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The Associated Press
Litchfield, Minn.

5 Minnesota Guard members injured in Afghanistan

Aghanistan attack
Afghan National Army soldiers investigate the site of a deadly assault by suicide bombers and gunmen against a NATO base in Zhari west of Kandahar city, Afghanistan, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. The Monday attack killed one NATO service member and two bystanders, a sheep herder and his 13-year-old daughter, according to coalition and Afghan officials. It also injured five Minnesota National Guard members, a spokesman said.
Allauddin Khan/AP

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The Minnesota National Guard says five of its members have been injured in an attack in Afghanistan.

Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson says the five members are from the 849th Mobility Augmentation Company based in Litchfield. They were injured during an attack on Forward Operating Base Pasab in Kandahar Province Monday.

Olson says one solider is recovering in Germany and the other four are being treated in Afghanistan. Their identities or the extent of their injuries were not released.

An assault by suicide bombers and gunmen against the NATO base in Kandahar's Zhari district Monday killed one service member, who has not been identified. NATO and an Afghan official say all nine insurgents were killed during the attack.

The 849th left from Litchfield in July. The deployment sent 95 guard members overseas.

Olson says military and health care regulations prevent the guard from identifying the soldiers or discussing their injuries or medical conditions.

DFL Sen. Al Franken urged Minnesotans not to forget about the sacrifices made by members of the military.

"These men and women put everything on the line for us. We have to remember that every day," Franken said Wednesday. "We're praying for them, the ones who were very seriously wounded," he added. "Their families also are on our thoughts and in our prayers."

MPR News reporter Tim Nelson contributed to this story.

Gallery
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Kandahar suicide attack
Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers are pictured at the scene of a suicide attack outside a base in Zhari district, Kandahar province on Jan. 20, 2014. Nine Taliban militants launched a suicide assault against a US base in southern Afghanistan on January 20, killing one NATO soldier in a region where foreign troops are rapidly pulling out, officials said.
AFP/AFP/Getty Images
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US soldiers inspect the scene
US soldiers inspect the scene of a suicide attack outside a base in Zhari district, Kandahar province on Jan. 20, 2014. Nine Taliban militants launched a suicide assault against a US base in southern Afghanistan on Jan. 20, killing one NATO soldier in a region where foreign troops are rapidly pulling out, officials said.
AFP/AFP/Getty Images