Five NATO troops killed in Afghanistan
(CNN) — A surge in fighting across Afghanistan has left five more foreign troops dead on Saturday, bringing the number of NATO and U.S.-led troop deaths in June to more than 30.
Four service members assigned to the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan were killed Saturday in a roadside bomb attack, the U.S. military said.
The four deaths occurred when a convoy of the U.S.-led coalition’s Task Force Phoenix was ambushed by militants using a roadside bomb and small arms fire west of Kandahar, Lt. Col. Paul Fanning said.
The convoy was on a mission to train Afghan national police and soldiers when it was attacked, Fanning said. About three dozen nations have committed troops to that training effort, which includes more than 700 training teams and 8,000 trainers across Afghanistan.
Two other troops were seriously wounded in the attack. Watch journalists break out their flak jackets
Also early Saturday, a Polish soldier assigned to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force was killed and four others were wounded by a roadside bomb while on patrol in the Dila district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province, the assistance force said.
At least 32 troops assigned to the U.S.-led coalition and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force have died in Afghanistan in June.
Twelve Americans, nine British, two Canadians, a Romanian and one Hungarian have died in the country. The nationalities of seven dead troops have not been released.
It’s a difficult time right now, but it’s an extremely dangerous job, Fanning said. This is a combat theater. This is why we’re here. The enemy’s doing their best to thwart the progress we’ve made, but we’re determined not to let them succeed.
Much of the fighting has occurred across southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban militant movement has been a tenacious fighting force — particularly in the summer months.
Hundreds of Taliban militants streamed into several villages in Kandahar province days ago, after 400 militants escaped from a prison in Kandahar.
Afghan and NATO forces recently pushed the Taliban out of several villages in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense said 56 Taliban fighters had been killed in the operation. Officials said they had no firm figures on the number wounded.
There is fighting in other parts of the country as well.
The U.S.-led coalition said its forces on Saturday conducted precision airstrikes in Khost province targeting a Taliban commander involved with roadside bombings, foreign fighter operations and weapons smuggling.
Khost is in the eastern part of the country.
