2 US-led troops killed in Afghanistan

Press TV, Sat Oct 2, 2010, 5:53AM

 US-led soldiers in Afghanistan, file photo Two more US-led soldiers have lost their lives in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan, says NATO's International Security Assistance Force. NATO said in a Saturday statement that the incident took place on Friday.

"Two ISAF service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday (Friday)," it added. NATO did not reveal the nationalities of the troops. Friday deaths bring to 551 the number of US-led troops killed in the war-torn country so far this year, AFP reported.

The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has sparked widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the continuation of the Afghan war. The recent surge in fighting between US-led coalition forces and Taliban militants has made 2010 the deadliest year for the foreign troops since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. DB/MGH

Bomb kills two NATO soldiers in Afghanistan

– Sat Oct 2, 2010, 9:07 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

Two soldiers from NATO forces (ISAF) were killed in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Saturday.

NATO did not release the nationalities of the soldiers, but the incident took the number of foreign troops killed in the war so far this year to 551 -- the deadliest on record.

"Two ISAF service members died following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday (Friday)," a NATO statement said.

Homemade bombs cause the majority of casualties among foreign and Afghan troops fighting the Taliban.

On Friday a roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle in Shah Wali Kot district of southern Kandahar province, killing two civilians and wounding four others, an official statement said.

Separately six insurgents (Taliban fighers) were killed on Friday in a joint Afghan and NATO operation in Zahri district of Kandahar.

In neighbouring Uruzgan province five (Taliban fighers)  were killed in an air strike overnight, provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat told AFP.

The United States and NATO allies have increased the number of foreign troops fighting a nine-year Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan to more than 152,000.

US-led forces have stepped up attacks on insurgents since the spring as part of a new strategy aiming to root out Taliban militants before drawing down the military presence next year.