Coalition Death Toll in Afghanistan Rises After Three More Slayings
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U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Dexter S. Saulisbury/Released(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Eastern Afghanistan remains a dangerous environment for NATO forces as reports surfaced over the weekend of three coalition soldiers dying in two separate attacks.
The International Security Assistance Force, the umbrella group for all foreign soldiers, said that two members died in a roadside bomb explosion on Sunday, while insurgents killed a soldier on Saturday.
There was no immediate word of the nationalities of the slain troops.
This weekend’s fatalities bring the death toll of U.S. and coalition forces up through July 22 to 250. Last year, 556 coalition forces died in Afghanistan.
With the plan to withdraw nearly all foreign troops from the country by 2014, the ISAF has begun allowing Afghan forces to take the lead in some military operations with the goal to eventually transfer all security responsibilities to the national army and police.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio