Roadside bombs kill 3 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Two coalition service members were killed Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. A third service member died of injuries sustained in an attack last month.

ISAF said two of its service members were killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Afghanistan's eastern region, which is also home to the country's capital. 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 nationalities of the service members involved 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. The alliance does also not disclose whether other service members were injured.

Additionally, the Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that a U.S. soldier died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday after being seriously injured in an IED attack in eastern Afghanistan last month. The attack took place on August 12 in the Pul-e Alam district of Logar province.

The U.S. Department of Defense identified the casualty as 22-year-old Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin of Edmond, Oklahoma. The department said the soldier was injured when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol during combat operations, but the total number of injuries was not disclosed. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mailed statement on August 13.

The latest deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 131, 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.

There are currently more than 87,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 60,000 U.S. troops and 7,700 British soldiers. Approximately 2,500 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].)