US soldier killed in Afghanistan bomb attack: NATO
Source: AFP on Google
The death takes this year's international military casualties in Afghanistan to 505
KABUL — An American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb while serving with NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Saturday.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died on Friday, but gave no details of where the incident took place.
The death of the American, who was not named, was the only known Christmas Day fatality among the 113,000 international troops deployed to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"An ISAF service member from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan Friday," the ISAF statement said.
The death takes this year's international military casualties in Afghanistan to 505, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This year has been the deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion, backed by most NATO countries, forced the Taliban from government.
The Taliban, who were in power from 1996-2001, are trying to overthrow the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. The Islamist militia have consistently rejected reconciliation calls by Kabul.
The United States and NATO are boosting their military presence by another 40,000 troops in an influx that should be completed by August next year, military officials in Kabul have said.
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