‘8 US-led troops killed in Afghanistan’

An Afgan Militant says at least eight US-led soldiers as well as 16 militants have been killed in troubled eastern Afghanistan, Press TV reports.

The causalities came during a US-led assault on militants’ positions in Barge Matal region of Nuristan Province.

Meanwhile, Shamsul Rehman Zahid Nuristani, the provincial police chief, said the overnight attack was carried out by foreign troops in coordination with Afghan forces.

Fighting between militants and foreign forces has recently intensified in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

According to official figures released by the website iCasualties.org, a total of 439 US-led foreign troops have lost their lives in war-battered Afghanistan so far this year.

Violence in Afghanistan is on the rise as militants have expedited their spring and summer offensive.

The rising number of foreign casualties has stoked opposition to the Afghan war in NATO member states as well as in countries that have contributed troops to the war.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan despite the presence of nearly 150,000 US-led forces in the country.