Roadside Bomb Kills Foreign Soldier In Southern Afghanistan

Roadside bomb kills foreign soldier in southern Afghanistan < br />

2012-05-25 09:06:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A coalition service member was killed on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a brief statement. It raises the number of foreign troops killed so far this year to 163.

ISAF said one of its service members was killed on Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Afghanistan's volatile south. 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 released the identity of a U.S. soldier who was killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday. The department said 25-year-old 2nd Lt. Travis A. Morgado, of San Jose, California, was killed in the Zhari District of Kandahar province when insurgents attacked his patrol with an IED.

Morgado was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

The death on Thursday raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 163, 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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