Four US troops killed in Afghan war

Four US soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan as the Taliban escalate their attacks against foreign troops stationed in the war-torn country.

A NATO spokesman confirmed that all four soldiers killed on Sunday were Americans.

Two American soldiers died in a gun battle with Taliban militants in the east of the country, while the other two were killed in separate incidents in the south, the spokesman added.

The US-led military alliance said one of the service members was killed in an improvised explosive device blast while the other lost his life in a small-arms fire incident.

The deaths bring to 294 the number of American soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year. At least 451 US-led foreign troops have lost their lives there so far in 2010.

The Taliban have been stepping up their attacks against US led troops across Afghanistan over the past four years.

According to official figures, more than 2,000 US-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Figures released by Afghanistan’s Baakhtar news agency, however, put the death toll at almost 4,500.

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