5 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan

By Amir Shah, Associated Press Writer –

Thu Sep 30, 2010, 2:38 pm ET

KABUL, Afghanistan –

Five NATO service members were killed Thursday in southern Afghanistan, the scene of heavy fighting as troops push into areas long controlled by the Taliban (fighters), the coalition said.

Three died when a homemade bomb exploded and two were killed separately — one following an insurgent attack and another in an explosion.

No other details or the nationalities of the troops was immediately disclosed.

Three Afghan civilians also died in the south in a suicide attack on a NATO convoy, a local official said. Nine other civilians were wounded in the bombing, which occurred near the airport in Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. The suicide attacker detonated explosives while in his vehicle, causing the casualties, said Zulmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor.

A NATO spokesman confirmed one Afghan death and said the blast caused substantial damage to buildings in the immediate area and left a significant crater in the highway. NATO said the wounded civilians were medically evacuated. One coalition vehicle was damaged in the attack, he said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

NATO also confirmed Thursday that an assessment team had determined that four Afghan civilians were killed and three were wounded during a coalition operation Wednesday in Andar district of Ghazni province in the east. The coalition said the civilians were killed when Afghan and international troops came under fire from about eight insurgents.

A helicopter fired to protect the troops, but accidentally struck a group of unarmed civilians, NATO said. The coalition expressed its regret over the deaths of the civilians. The wounded were treated at a NATO medical facility.

Associated Press writer Eric Talmadge in Kabul contributed to this report.

Six US-led troops die in Afghan war

Press TV, Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:55PM Share

 US-led troops patrol a village in Afghanistan. NATO confirms six more US-led forces have been killed in Afghanistan as militants step up their attacks against foreign forces in the country.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced that three soldiers have been killed by a bomb explosion and another three died in separate attacks.

ISAF says the attacks happened in the country's troubled south but has not yet disclosed the nationalities of the soldiers.

About 550 foreign soldiers have been killed in the Afghan war so far this year.

ISAF has also announced that one of its air weapons teams has accidentally struck a group of civilians in Ghazni province killing four and injuring three others.

The loss of civilian lives at the hand of foreign forces has led to a dramatic increase in anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan.

A recent UN report revealed that civilian deaths have jumped by 31 percent in the first half of 2010.

The recent surge in fighting between US-led coalition forces and Taliban militants has made 2010 the deadliest year for the foreign troops since the invasion of Afghanistan began in 2001.

JR/MB

NATO drone 'shot down' in Afghanistan

Press TV, Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:17PM Share

Taliban militants say they have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by NATO in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, near the border with Pakistan.

A recovery force was immediately sent to retrieve the UAV.

The Taliban claimed they targeted the remotely piloted aircraft in the mountainous areas of Khost on Thursday, Afghan Islamic Press reported.

However, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the drone crashed due to a technical glitch.

Taliban militants claim to have shot down several NATO helicopters and drone aircrafts in different parts of Afghanistan over the past months.

MP/AKM/MGH

US-led strike kills 4 Afghan civilians

Press TV, Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:17PM

The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says four Afghan civilians were killed and three others wounded during an operation in Ghazni province.

"We deeply regret that our operation resulted in civilian loss of life and we express our sincerest condolences to the families," ISAF director of communication, Rear Admiral Greg Smith, said on Thursday.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday after a missile -- fired in an attempt to protect the Afghan and ISAF troops from a militant attack -- struck a group of unarmed civilians in Andar District of Ghazni province, killing four and injuring three others.

The US-led NATO force has been responsible for scores of civilian deaths, many of them killed during air raids aimed against militants.

MP/MGH