Nato Service Member Killed In Afghan Bomb Blast

NATO service member killed in Afghan bomb blast < br /> 2012-04-30 00:36:37 GMT+7 (ICT) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan on late Saturday evening, killing one coalition service member, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday. It followed the death of another ISAF service member hours earlier.ISAF said one of its service members was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Afghanistan's east. But because the multinational force defers the release of specific details to national authorities, no other details about the incident were released, including the exact location.Earlier on Saturday evening, another ISAF service member died as a result of an IED attack in southern Afghanistan. An ISAF service member also died on Saturday as a result of a non-battle related injury in southern Afghanistan, although the multinational force gave no other details about the cause of death.The nationalities of the service members involved in the three incidents were also not immediately disclosed by ISAF. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," ISAF said in three brief statements, giving no specific details.Also on Saturday, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) identified a U.S. soldier who was shot and killed by a rogue Afghan soldier in Kandahar province on Wednesday. The service member was identified as 25-year-old Staff Sergeant Andrew T. Brittonmihalo of Simi Valley, California. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.The Afghan soldier who attacked Brittonmihalo was killed by ISAF troops when they returned fire.The deaths on Saturday raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 133, most of them American and British service members, according to official figures. A British soldier died on Friday after he was shot by an insurgent while on patrol in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province, which is located in Afghanistan's south.A total of 566 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2011, down from 711 in 2010. A majority of the fallen troops were American and were killed in the country's south, which is plagued by 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 more than 9,500 British 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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