Bomb blast kills NATO service member in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A coalition service member was killed Monday 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 119.

ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Afghanistan's southern region, which was the birthplace of the Taliban movement two decades ago. 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.

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 other service members were injured.

Monday's death raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 119, 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.

On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the identities of two American soldiers who died in a roadside bomb explosion during combat operations in eastern Afghanistan on Friday. They were named as 23-year-old Spc. Kenneth Clifford Alvarez of Santa Maria, California, and 20-year-old Pvt. Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter of Humphreys, Missouri.

There are currently more than 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 68,000 U.S. troops and 9,000 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.

In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the fifth and final phase of security transition in which coalition forces hand over control of the remaining 95 districts - including Taliban stronghold areas in the south and east - to Afghan security forces. ISAF will still be responsible for military air support as well as support in combat operations until the end of 2014.

(Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)