Two Nato Troops Die In Afghan Insurgent Attacks

[News_Editor]

Two NATO troops die in Afghan insurgent attacks < br />

2012-05-22 22:41:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Insurgents attacked coalition service members in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing one of them, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a brief statement on Tuesday. A U.S. soldier has also died after being injured in Afghanistan in April.

ISAF said one of its service members was killed on Monday as a result of an insurgent attack 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 and whether any other troops were injured.

The nationality of the service member involved in the incident was also not immediately disclosed by ISAF, again per its policy. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," ISAF said in a brief statement, giving no specific details.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the death of 20-year-old Spc. Samuel T. Watts, of Wheaton, Illinois. Watts died on Saturday at a hospital in Maryland after he was injured on April 25 in southern Afghanistan when he was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED). He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

U.S. officials have also released the identities of four U.S. soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan on Friday and Sunday.

The department said 28-year-old Sgt. Michael J. Knapp, of Overland Park, Kansas, and 23-year-old Sgt. Jabraun S. Knox, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, were killed when insurgents attacked their unit with indirect fire in eastern Afghanistan on Friday. An Afghan provincial official previously said they were killed when a rocket struck a coalition base in Kunar province, also injuring six other ISAF troops.

Also identified were 28-year-old Captain Jesse A. Ozbat, of Prince George, Virginia, and 30-year-old 2nd Lt. Tobias C. Alexander, of Lawton, Oklahoma. The soldiers, assigned to the 168th Brigade Support Battalion, 214th Fires Brigade at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, were killed on Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked an ISAF convoy at a police checkpoint in Uruzgan province. Two Afghan children also died.

The newly reported deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 164, according to official figures. 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 by the end of this summer, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

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