US, British, NATO troops killed in Afghanistan

KABUL (AP) – An improvised bomb attack killed two U.S. service members Monday in southern Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO troops have stepped up their operations against insurgents in recent months, NATO said.

Also in the south, a British soldier was killed in an attack on a foot patrol and another NATO service member died in a blast Sunday, NATO and British officials said Monday.

Taliban militants this year have increased their use of roadside bombs, which now account for the majority of U.S. and NATO casualties.

NATO spokesman Brigadier General Eric Tremblay said two NATO service members died Monday in a bomb attack. U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo confirmed that the two were Americans. No other details were provided.

The British soldier, who has not been named, was shot while patrolling in the Babaji district of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, Britain's defense ministry said.

The soldier's death brings to 214 the number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations there began in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

Another service member from NATO's International Security Assistance Force was killed Sunday in a bomb blast in the south, NATO said Monday. No other details, including the service member's nationality, were released.

Violence has risen across Afghanistan in the last three years as the resurgent Taliban regained control of large swaths of countryside.

Fighting has been particularly harsh this summer in the south, where thousands of U.S. troops have deployed to bolster the Canadian and British-led operations in the Taliban heartland.

The U.S. and NATO have a record number of troops in Afghanistan — nearly 100,000 in total — and the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is likely to soon request thousands more.

This year has been the deadliest for U.S. and NATO troops since the 2001 invasion.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, as of Thursday morning at least 746 members of the U.S. military had died in the Afghan war since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.