<p> Bomb blast kills foreign soldier in southern Afghanistan </p>< br />

<p>2013-02-22 23:50:02 GMT+7 (ICT) </p><br /> <p>KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A coalition service member was killed Friday when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. It raises the number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 9.<br /></p><br /><p>ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack 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 available, including the exact location.<br /></p><br /><p>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 disclose whether service members were injured.<br /></p><br /><p>The latest death raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to nine, according to official figures. A total of 402 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2012, down from 566 fatalities in 2011 and 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.<br /></p><br /><p>There are currently more than 102,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 68,000 U.S. troops and 9,500 British soldiers. Approximately 3,800 British soldiers are expected to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2013, with all foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014.<br /></p> <p>

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