US-led soldier dies in Afghan war

A powerful bomb explosion has killed one US-led soldier in Afghanistan as the death toll of foreign forces continues to rise in the war-ravaged country.

NATO issued a statement on Saturday, saying that one of the soldiers was killed by an improvised bomb in southern Afghanistan.

The US-led alliance, however, did not announce the exact location of the incident or the nationality of the victim.

The incident took place after another two soldiers were killed in a separate bomb attack in eastern parts of the country on Friday.

At least 536 US-led NATO troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan so far this year, making 2010 the deadliest year for NATO since the war began nine years ago.

The total US and NATO casualties in the past 20 months are more than the entire death toll in the first seven years of the war.

According to official figures, Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, some 2,100 NATO forces have been killed.

However, Afghanistan’s Baakhtar news agency put the overal death toll of the foreign troops at about 4,500.