Kabul: Three NATO soldiers have been killed
fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, two of them in a bomb
attack in the relatively peaceful west of the country, the
military said on Monday.
A third soldier was killed on patrol in the south, where
the nearly nine-year war is at its fiercest, on American
Independence Day, NATO`s International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) said.
It later announced two soldiers died in western
Afghanistan today following an improvised explosive device
(IED) attack.
Such bombs are a high-profile Taliban weapon and
responsible for the overwhelming majority of deaths of both
troops and civilians in the war.
The nationalities of the soldiers were not given.
The deaths bring to 331 the number of foreign soldiers to
have died in the war so far this year, according to an AFP
tally based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org
website.
The deaths come after US General David Petraeus took
command yesterday of the 140,000 NATO and US troops in
Afghanistan, replacing US General Stanley McChrystal, who was
sacked for insubordination.
Another 10,000 foreign troops are due to deploy to
Afghanistan by August as part of a plan to intensify pressure
on the insurgents, mainly in the southern provinces of Helmand
and Kandahar, and speed an end to the war.
In Zabul, the province neighbouring Kandahar, a roadside
bomb killed six civilians overnight, the interior ministry
said today.
PTI
