Three more NATO troops killed in Afghanistan

Heralding a bloody new month for NATO forces in Afghanistan, three more foreign troops are killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, raising Monday’s death toll to six.

The dead include an American, a Spaniard, two British soldiers and two others. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has not yet disclosed the nationalities of two of its forces. One died on the spot and the other died later from injures, it said.

The American was killed by a bomb blast in the south, where a firefight on Monday killed two other foreign soldiers, ISAF said.

The Spanish Defense Ministry said a soldier of Colombian origin serving in the Spanish army was killed and six others were injured after their convoy struck a mine in the Badghis province.

The two British troops were killed in Helmand.

The deaths bring the number of foreign troops killed in action so far this year to 50. Last month’s death toll of 44 was the highest for the month of January since the US-led invasion in late 2001. It was in contrast to the 25 killed in January 2009, AFP reported.

Another record was set last year with the highest overall death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan since the war began, put at 520 compared with 295 in the previous year.