UPDATE 1 -- Three Italian soldiers die in Afghan vehicle accident

UPDATE 1 -- Three Italian soldiers die in Afghan vehicle accident

2012-02-20 17:03:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL/ROME (BNO NEWS) -- Three Italian service members were killed on Monday when their armored vehicle overturned while crossing a stream in western Afghanistan, the Italian Ministry of Defense said. It raises the number of Italian troops killed in Afghanistan so far to 45.

Officials at the Ministry of Defense in the Italian capital of Rome said the accident happened about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) southwest of Shindand, a town in the Shindand district of Herat province, when an armored vehicle overturned, trapping the soldiers inside. Three soldiers were killed while a fourth was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.

Italian president Giorgio Napolitano offered his condolences in a brief statement released by his office. "[Napolitano] learned with deep emotion the news of the accident which killed three Italian soldiers engaged in the international mission for peace and stability in Afghanistan, expressing his feelings for joint participation in the pain of the families of the fallen and voicing the deep condolences of the country," it said.

The deaths raise the number of Italian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2003 to 45. In late September 2011, three Italian soldiers were killed as a result of an accident involving an Italian patrol in the western Afghan city of Herat, the capital of the province which carries the same name. Two others were injured.

Monday's deaths also raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 45, according to official figures. The deadliest incident so far this year happened on January 19 when a NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing six U.S. Marines.

A total of 566 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2011, down from 711 fatalities in 2010. A majority of the fallen troops were American and were killed in the country's south, which is plagued by improvised explosive devices (IED) attacks on troops and civilians.

There are currently more than 130,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and nearly 4,000 Italian soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops later this year, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

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