Insurgent Attack Kills Coalition Service Member In Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

Insurgent attack kills coalition service member in Afghanistan < br />

2012-07-24 03:39:39 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. It comes just a day after several attacks killed seven ISAF service members and contractors.

ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an insurgent attack in Afghanistan's volatile 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.

The nationality of the service member involved 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. The alliance does also not report injuries.

The death comes just a day after a rogue Afghan police officer opened fire at civilian police training contractors working for ISAF at a training center in Herat province, located in the country's western region which is relatively peaceful when compared to other regions in the war-torn country. The attack killed two Americans and one British citizen.

Also on Sunday, two coalition service members were killed following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan. Another roadside bomb attack in the country's south claimed the lives of two more coalition service members, but their nationalities were not immediately known.

The death on Monday raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 255, 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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