6 US-led troops killed in Afghanistan

Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:47AM GMT

US-led coalition forces patrol the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. (File photo)

A bomb attack has killed at least six foreign soldiers with the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in volatile southern Afghanistan.

ISAF said in a statement that the soldiers were killed in the war-torn country on Thursday following the explosion of a roadside bomb.

The statement did not reveal the nationalities of the soldiers or the exact location of the deaths.

The latest bomb blast is the deadliest single attack on foreign forces since Saturday when the Taliban militants shot down an American helicopter.

The incident, that left 31 US Navy SEALs dead, was the worst single-day loss of life among NATO troops since the beginning of the war in 2001.

At least 388 US-led soldiers, most of them Americans, have died in Afghanistan so far this year.

According to official figures, more than 2,669 US-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

The security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of about 150,000 US-led foreign forces.

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 Afghan war.

MSH/MB/JR