KABUL – Seven members of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan yesterday, the coalition said, the worst single incident involving foreign troops in a month.
The assistance force did not specify the nationalities of those killed but US, British and Canadian troops make up the bulk of the foreign force in the south. Almost 200 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.
Another force member was killed earlier yesterday when a helicopter crashed in the east of the country, the coalition said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
The coalition usually does not disclose the nationalities of those killed until the defence ministries of the countries concerned have been informed.
Homemade bombs – or “improvised explosive devices” – are weapons used frequently by insurgents in Afghanistan and account for more than half of the casualties suffered by foreign troops.
“Seven International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan,” the security assistance force said in a brief statement.
The toll from yesterday’s attack was the worst among foreign troops from a single incident since eight US service personnel and a US contractor were shot dead by an Afghan air force pilot at a military airport in Kabul on April 27th.
Casualties among foreign forces have risen in recent weeks since the Taliban began a long-expected “spring offensive”.
US commanders had already said a surge in violence could be expected as Taliban-led insurgents pushed back after mainly US forces made a concerted drive in the Taliban heartland in the south in the past year.
Foreign troops are preparing to start a gradual reduction in forces from July, with the last foreign combat troops due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
A total of 711 foreign soldiers were killed last year and 2011 is following a similar pattern, with casualty tolls rising during the spring and summer. – (Reuters)