Insurgents Kill Two Nato Troops In Southern Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

Insurgents kill two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan < br />

2012-06-23 13:29:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Insurgents attacked coalition service members in southern Afghanistan on Friday, killing two of them, the NATO-led International Security Assistance (ISAF) said in a brief statement. It raises the number of foreign troops killed so far this year to 209.

ISAF said two of its service members were killed on Friday as a result of two separate insurgent attacks in Afghanistan's 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 nationalities of the service members involved in the incidents were 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.

Also on Friday, U.S. officials released the identity of a U.S. soldier who was killed in Afghanistan earlier this week. The U.S. Department of Defense said 22-year-old Sgt. Jose Rodriguez, of Gustine, California, was killed on Tuesday when he was shot at in Kandahar province. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

The deaths on Friday raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 209, 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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