US-LED FOREIGN SOLDIER KILLED IN ZABUL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

Zabul, 29 Jumadil Awwal 1435/30 March 2014 (MINA) – One US-led foreign soldier has been killed and three others injured in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan’s southern province of Zabul.

The attack was carried out as a military convoy reached the outskirts of the provincial capital, Qalat, on Sunday, district governor Abdul Khaliq Ayubi said.

Vin Spevens, a NATO spokesman, confirmed that a coalition service member died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack, but he did not reveal the soldier’s nationality. Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

NATO usually waits for member countries to make the announcement of the nationality of the casualties.

There has been a surge in the number of militant attacks against Afghan forces, foreign troops, and civilians in the country in recent months. US-led troops and Afghan forces are also falling prey to Taliban attacks on an almost daily basis.

According to the latest figures released by the website icasualties.org, 3,418 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led war began twelve years ago.

The increasing number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but the country is still gripped by insecurity. (T/P04/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)