South Asia News

Three NATO soldiers killed in Afghan bombings, clash (Roundup)

Feb 1, 2010, 14:26 GMT

Kabul - Three NATO soldiers, including a US service member, were killed in bombings and a clash on Monday in Afghanistan, as Afghan forces killed a would-be suicide bomber in southern region, officials said.

One NATO soldier was killed in an encounter with suspected insurgents in southern region, while another died in a roadside bomb blast in a western province, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal the nationalities of the deceased, nor did it say where exactly the incidents took place. Most of the troops stationed in western region are from Spain and Italy, while US, British, Canadian and Dutch soldiers are the main NATO forces in the southern region.

The third soldier was from the United States, who died as a result of roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan, a separate ISAF statement said, but did not give further details.

The death-rate among US troops is on the rise as the US government planned to send 30,000 extra troops this summer to supplement the more than 110,000 US and NATO forces already stationed in Afghanistan.

A total of 29 US soldiers died in January, more than double the 14 fatalities recorded in the same month in 2009.

In a separate incident Monday, two would-be suicide bombers were identified by police officers in front of a police office in the southern province of Zabul before they could carry out the attack, Interior Ministry said.

One of the bombers died when his explosives detonated after he was shot by the police, but the second one managed to escape, the ministry said.

The deputy police chief was unharmed in the explosion, but one of his bodyguards was wounded, police official Abdul Haleem Jan said.