In Afghanistan, 2 more US-led troops die

Two more US-led soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan as the death toll for foreign forces in the volatile country continue to set new records.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said one of the soldiers was killed in a militant attack in eastern Afghanistan on Friday.

The other died in an explosion in the south of the country on Thursday.

ISAF has withheld the name and the nationality of the deceased soldiers.

June has been the deadliest month for foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion. More than 80 soldiers have been killed so far this month, with almost half of them American.

The latest deaths bring the number of NATO troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 302.

The deaths came after the Taliban on Thursday vowed to continue fighting against foreign troops in Afghanistan.

“We don’t care whether it’s McChrystal or Petraeus. Our position is clear. We’ll be fighting the invading forces until they leave,” AFP quoted Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, as saying.

The announcement came shortly after General Stanley McChrystal was sacked for making comments against the US President Barack Obama’s administration and General David Petraeus was appointed as the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

McChrystal’s replacement does not signal a change in US strategies in Afghanistan. The former commander, citing a letter by US Ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry, has said that should the American strategy fail in Afghanistan, it would be blamed on President Hamid Karzai.

The rising number of casualties has increased opposition to the Afghan war in the member states of the Western military alliance.

The 130,000-strong foreign presence in Afghanistan has so far failed to establish security in the country.