Kabul: Two soldiers with NATO-led forces
fighting Taliban-led insurgents were killed in a bomb
explosion in southern Afghanistan, NATO said on Sunday.
"Two ISAF service members died following an IED
(improvised explosive device) strike in southern Afghanistan
yesterday (Sunday)," NATO's International Security Assistance
Force said.
The latest deaths took to 61 the number of the foreign
soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the start of the year,
according to an AFP count based on a tally kept by independent
icasualties.org website.
Two Swedish army officers and an Afghan interpreter were
also killed yesterday when a patrol came under attack in near
the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Sweden's armed
forces announced.
In 2009, the deadliest since the 2001 overthrow of the
Taliban regime after a US-led invasion, 520 foreign soldiers
lost their lives, compared to 295 the year before.
More than 110,000 international troops are in Afghanistan
fighting the Taliban-led insurgents under US and NATO command,
with another 40,000 arriving as part of a counter-insurgency
strategy designed to bring an end to the war.
Thousands of NATO and Afghan troops are preparing to
launch a massive operation against the Taliban in their
biggest stronghold in the southern province of Helmand.
US General Stanley McChrystal, who commands foreign
troops in Afghanistan, said yesterday the operation aims to
eradicate the Taliban threat and establish government control
over the Majah region of central Helmand River valley.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 08, 2010, 18:08