Two NATO troops die in Afghan insurgent attacks

Two NATO troops die in Afghan insurgent attacks

2011-03-13 15:00:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Two coalition service members were killed in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday.

ISAF said one service member was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, while a second service member was killed in southern Afghanistan as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack. Other details were not immediately released.

The nationalities of the service members were also not immediately disclosed. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," an ISAF statement said.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eventually declared that the attacks of 9/11, which killed nearly 3,000 people from scores of countries, was considered an attack on all NATO nations. The NATO-backed war in Afghanistan aims to defeat the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country.

So far this year, more than 80 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Most troops are killed in the country's south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-13