WHITFIELD: All right. Three U.S. contractors have been killed in Afghanistan today. Athena Jones is following this story from Washington. What have you learned -- Athena.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Sad news. As you mentioned, three Americans civilians who are there working as contractors were killed when the convoy they were traveling in was struck by an IED in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. The coalition said that one of the Americans was killed in the actual attack. The others -- the other two died later. And they're among at least 12 people who were killed in that explosion. 66 others were injured according to Afghan officials. A Taliban spokesman sent an e-mail to news media that the Taliban denied responsibility for today's attacks. But I got to tell you, it's been a violent month there in Kabul. Just last week a suicide bomber detonated his car at a checkpoint near the entrance to Kabul International Airport, killing four people and wounding 15 others. And on August 10th three separate attacks in Kabul killed more than 50 people including 27 students at a police academy and one U.S. service member. The Taliban did claim responsibility for both of those attacks. And now the U.S. embassy in Kabul condemned today's attack saying, quote, "At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families who suffered as a result of this attack. The United States remain committed to assisting our Afghan partners in their efforts to ensure a peaceful future for Afghanistan." Now this just -- we're just getting this news in and so we don't yet know the names of course of those three contractors -- Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Keep us posted. Thank you so much, Athena Jones. All right. Straight ahead standing up for LGBT rights. "Juno" actress Ellen Page confronting Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz in Iowa.</s>ELLEN PAGE, ACTRESS: For example, still on a lot of states LGBT people are being fired for just being gay or for just being trans. That's totally illegal. I mean, how do you feel about that? That doesn't sound very American to me.
Three U.S. Contractors Killed in Afghanistan