Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan kill German, Polish soldiers

[News_Editor]

Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan kill German, Polish soldiers

2011-06-02 23:01:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Two German and Polish soldiers were killed on Thursday in two separate insurgent attacks in northern and eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the country's governments said.

The Polish soldier, identified as Lance Corporal Jaroslaw Mackowiak, was killed when insurgents attacked a patrol with small arms and anti-tank grenades north-west of a base in Giro District of Ghazni province. Two other Polish soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries.

In a separate attack near the city of Kunduz, the capital of the province with the same name, one German soldier was killed when insurgents struck a patrol with an improvised explosive device (IED). Five other German soldiers were injured.

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.

So far this year, 220 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 2011-06-02