Two NATO soldiers killed in IED blast Commander among three policemen killed
28 July, 2012
KABUL/HERAT: Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed Thursday in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in restive southern Afghanistan, the military alliance confirmed in a press release Friday morning. The brief press release disclosed neither the nationalities of the victims nor the details about the incident under the ISAF policy, only saying "it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities." Troops mainly from U.S., Britain and Australia have been stationed in the southern region within the framework of ISAF to curb Taliban-linked insurgency there. Violence has been on the rise since Taliban insurgents launched an annual spring offensive on May 3. The simple but difficult to be detected Taliban weapon, the IEDs used in making suicide vests and roadside bombs, has proved a challenge for Afghan and NATO-led forces in the insurgency-hit country. The casualties bring to 260 the number of foreign soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan since beginning this year. Meanwhile, a commander of a private security company among three security men were killed in separate attacks in western Herat province, police said Friday . Taliban gunmen attacked police in Qasr-e-Nasar area of Pashtun Zarghun district last night, killing two police and wounding another, General Abdul Hameed Hameedi, security chief of Herat police, told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). He said the police were ambushed by Taliban when they were on way to the site of a cell phone tower torched by the gunmen. Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi told AIP that their fighters attacked police who were defusing a roadside bomb in Pasthun Zarghun district yesterday. He said the attack caused casualties to the police. Elsewhere a Talib fighter was killed after Taliban attacked a police post in Adraskan district last night, the provincial security chief said. He said police also seized two motorcycles while there was no damage to police. In another development, a landmine exploded on a vehicle of private security company late yesterday's evening in Aab Khoban area of Karkh district, killing a commander and wounding two security men, a security official told AIP on condition of anonymity.? There was no word by Taliban in this regard. Four private guards were also killed in an armed attack in the same district a few days ago. End.
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