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19 March 2024

Two foreign soldiers killed in blasts in Afghanistan

Published
By AFP

 

Two foreign soldiers were killed by home-made bombs in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in separate statements.

No further details were given in line with ISAF policy but police in Kandahar province told AFP that one of the blasts happened in Spin Boldak district, near the border with Pakistan.

The deaths come after three foreign soldiers were killed on Saturday in an insurgent attack in the same volatile region, which is the focus of the counter-insurgency drive against the Taliban.

A total of 638 foreign troops have now been killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP count based on the independent icasualties.org web site, which tracks coalition fatalities and injuries.

That compares to 521 killed in 2009, in what was previously the deadliest year on record for the forces in Afghanistan.

Improvised explosive devices account for the majority of coalition fatalities.

There are currently more than 150,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan to support the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and fight an increasing Taliban-led insurgency that has stretched across the country.

ISAF and Afghan National Army troops on Saturday foiled a pre-dawn Taliban attack on a major military airbase in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, killing eight militants.