Roadside bomb kills NATO soldier in southern Afghanistan

USPA News - A coalition service member was killed on Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday. It raises the number of foreign troops killed so far this year in Afghanistan to 399. ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Afghanistan`s volatile south.

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 nationality of the service member involved was 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 service members were injured. The death on Saturday raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 399, according to official figures. A total of 566 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2011, down from 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 102,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 68,000 U.S. troops and 9,500 British soldiers. Approximately 3,800 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.