Afghanistan

NATO service member killed in Afghanistan’s Parwan Province

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A service member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been killed in an attack near the US-run Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan’s eastern Parwan Province.

“We can confirm a Resolute Support service member died as a result of an enemy attack in the vicinity of Bagram Airfield, September 22,” NATO said in a statement.

The statement, however, did not identify the nationality of the soldier, saying that NATO’s policy defers casualty identification to the relevant national authorities.

NATO’s so-called Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, consisting of 13,000 foreign soldiers, began on January 1, 2015 with the avowed aim of training Afghan forces and counter-terrorism operations. It replaced NATO’s combat mission in Afghanistan, which ended last December.

At least nine service members of the Resolute Support, including eight US soldiers, have lost their lives since the beginning of the year.

Also on Tuesday, at least 15 Afghan troops were killed in separate attacks in the northern part of the war-torn country. Among the dead were 10 soldiers, who lost their lives when a soldier reportedly allowed militants into a checkpoint in Jozjan Province to kill his colleagues. The other five soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Balkh Province.

Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the US and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but many areas in the country are still beset with insecurity.

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