Six NATO soldiers killed in attacks in Afghanistan

Kabul,January 13:Six soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in attacks in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the military alliance said.

Three soldiers died following a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, while the fourth was killed in an insurgent attack in the same region, ISAF statements said.

One more servicemember died following a non-battle-related injury in the same eastern region and the sixth was killed by a roadside bomb in the country’s south, the military said in separate statements.

ISAF did not reveal the nationalities of the deceased or the exact location of the incidents.

Most of the ISAF troops deployed to the eastern provinces are from the United States. Small units of French and Polish soldiers are also based in the region. The bulk of troops in the southern provinces are from the United States, Britain and Canada.

Wednesday was the deadliest day so far for the campaign this year, with the total death toll for foreign troops in 2011 standing at 17, according to iCasualties.org, an independent website which tracks NATO military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A total of 711 foreign troops were killed in the Afghan war last year, the deadliest period for nearly 150,000 international troops since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.