AFGHANISTAN

Suicide Bomber Kills American Soldier

And two civilians.

The Pentagon has confirmed that a suicide car bomber killed an American soldier and two Afghan civilians on Thursday just outside of the Kandahar Air Base. Three others were wounded in the attack, which the Taliban took credit for. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had made a surprise visit to the compound, which houses more than 20,000 U.S. service members as well as another 11,000 civilian workers. Panetta said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai will travel to Washington in January to meet with President Obama about Afghanistan’s future, including how many American troops should remain in the country after the December 2014 end to combat operations.