OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma's senior U.S. senator has returned from a visit to Afghanistan, where he personally delivered an Oklahoma-made machine used to detect improvised explosive devices.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) visited National Guard troops with Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who deployed in late July. Since that time, the Oklahoma Guard has lost 12 soldiers. Inhofe visited the troops at the Forward Operating Base Gamberi and Bagram Air Base.

Inhofe delivered a device manufactured in Stillwater by ICx Nomadics that is used to detect homemade explosives.

He says Oklahoma troops are conducting operations in eastern Afghanistan that is among the last strongholds for the insurgency. He acknowledged the soldiers are in a tough fight but they are upbeat."