Afghan blasts kill four US troops, British soldier (Roundup)

Jul 21, 2009, 10:12 GMT

   Kabul - A British soldier and four US troops were killed in separate roadside bombings in eastern and southern Afghanistan, while a coalition soldier died in a traffic accident near the capital Kabul, officials said Tuesday.

   The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul had said in a statement that four of its soldiers were killed in a blast in the eastern region of the country on Monday, but did not reveal their nationalities.

   However, a US military spokeswoman in Bagram, the main US military base in the country, confirmed to the German Press Agency dpa Tuesday that the dead soldiers were Americans.

   The latest deaths took the total number of American troops killed in Afghanistan in July to 30, making it the deadliest month for US forces since the US-led military invasion that toppled the Taliban government in late 2001.

   July's death toll for all international forces in Afghanistan stands at 57, according to iCasaulties.com, an independent website that tracks military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

   Monday's blast took place in the same region where Taliban militants have kidnapped a US soldier. The soldier, who was taken captive on June 30, appeared on a video posted on a Taliban website, pleading to the US public to force the government to pull its soldiers out of Afghanistan.

   Meanwhile, a NATO-led soldier was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan on Monday, the military alliance said in a statement.

   The statement did not disclose the nationality of the deceased soldier, but the BBC, quoting a British military spokesman, said that the dead soldier was from the British military.

   The soldier died on Monday afternoon, a day after another British soldier was killed in a similar attack in Helmand province.

   Since the beginning of Britain's involvement in Afghanistan in 2001, a total of 187 British troops have been killed. Eighteen have died in July alone.

   NATO and US military officials have warned of a 'tough' fight in Afghanistan this year. Around 21,000 additional US troops are joining forces from 42 nations in Afghanistan this year.

   The newly deployed US troops along with Afghan, British, and Canadian soldiers have been taking part in several operations to strike deeper into the Taliban's strongholds in eastern and southern regions in order to provide a safer environment for the August 20 presidential election.

   The strains that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have placed on the US military have pushed Washington to increase its army's strength. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced plans Monday to temporarily increase the army by 22,000 troops over the next three years.

   The move would increase the current number of active-duty soldiers from 547,000 to 569,000.

   Currently around 90,000 international troops, around two-thirds of them US soldiers, are stationed in Afghanistan.

   In another incident, a US-led coalition soldier was killed and two others were injured in a traffic accident in northern outskirts of Kabul city on Tuesday, the US military said in a statement.

   An Afghan interpreter with the forces was also hurt in the incident, the statement said.