Kabul, May 17: A second NATO soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan in 24 hours, the military said Monday, bringing to 198 the number of foreign troops to have died in the country so far this year.
The soldier died after a makeshift bomb exploded, the weapon of choice favoured by Taliban-led insurgents fighting against the Western-backed Afghan government and around 130,000 US-led foreign troops.
It was the second killing of a NATO soldier in southern Afghanistan on Sunday. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force did not release the nationality of either soldier.
The death brought to 198 the number of foreign troops to die this year during the Afghan war, which is into a ninth year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website.
A total of 520 died in 2009.
NATO and the United States are set to boost their overall number of troops in Afghanistan to 150,000 by August.
Most of the new deployments are heading to the volatile south, where an operation against the Taliban in Kandahar province is building as part of plans to squeeze them out of their heartland.
—Agencies