Vehicle accident, insurgent attack kill five NATO-led troops in Afghanistan

Vehicle accident, insurgent attack kill five NATO-led troops in Afghanistan

2011-06-20 02:50:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Five coalition service members were killed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday evening as a result of a vehicle accident and an insurgent attack, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday, raising Saturday's overall death toll to eight.

Earlier, ISAF said two of its service members were killed in southern Afghanistan as a result of two separate insurgent attacks, while a third insurgent attack in the country's east claimed the life of another service member. As usual, the multinational force gave no other details about the incidents.

On early Sunday morning, ISAF said four more service members were killed as a result of a vehicle accident in southern Afghanistan. Another service member died as a result of wounds sustained in an insurgent attack, also in southern Afghanistan.

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

So far this year, at least 256 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. Most of the casualties are American.

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