Insurgents kill 2 NATO troops in separate attacks in Afghanistan

USPA News - Two coalition service members were killed Monday in two separate insurgent attacks in eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. It raises the number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 29. ISAF said two of its service members were killed as a result of attacks by enemy forces in Afghanistan`s volatile eastern region, which is also home to the country`s capital.

But because the multinational force defers the release of specific details to national authorities, no other details about the incidents were available, including the exact locations. "These were two separate attacks in eastern Afghanistan," a coalition spokesperson said. The nationalities of the service members involved were 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 other service members were injured. Monday`s deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 29, according to official figures. A total of 160 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2013, down from 402 fatalities in 2012 and 566 in 2011. 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 51,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 33,500 U.S. troops and 5,200 British service members. Most foreign troops are scheduled to leave the war-torn country by the end of the year as Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States that would permit foreign troops to remain within the country beyond 2014.