Seven NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL : Seven U.S.-led troops were killed in five separate incidents in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sources and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.


Three service members were killed following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said in a press statement. A fourth service member was killed as a result of an insurgent attack also in eastern Afghanistan.

In southern Afghanistan, two service members were killed. One of them died in an insurgent attack, while the second service member died as a result of an IED attack.

"It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," the alliance said in a press statement. BNO News sources, however, confirmed that the six casualties were all American service members.

Meanwhile, the French Ministry of Defence confirmed that a French soldier died of his injuries after his vehicle fell into a ravine in the Uzbeen Valley of eastern Afghanistan on Monday. Three French soldiers were aboard the vehicle.

They were all airlifted to a French military hospital in Kabul, where the soldier subsequently died of his injuries.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply this year, with around 90 service members being killed in July alone. It was the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began on October 7, 2001 in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

On Monday, seven American service members were killed after two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. And in Germany on Monday, a Canadian soldier passed away as a result of injuries he had sustained in Afghanistan on August 22.

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