5 US-led forces killed in Afghanistan

At least five US-led forces have been killed in three separate attacks in different parts of Afghanistan, NATO sources say.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday that four NATO troopers had been killed on Sunday in two roadside bomb attacks in eastern and southern regions of the war-torn country.

The statement did not name the nationalities of the forces or provide further details about the incidents.

The high number of military casualties in Afghanistan has intensified opposition in the United States and other NATO member states to the protracted war in the country.

According to the independent website, icasualties.org, over 250 foreign troopers, 186 of them US personnel, have lost their lives in Afghanistan so far this year.

A total of 566 US-led forces died in Afghanistan in 2011. However, 2010 remains the deadliest year on record for foreign military casualties, with a death toll of 711.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, because the presence of about 130,000 US-led forces in the country.

On July 1, as many as 28 civilians and policemen were killed in southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces.