Increased attacks
September 29, 2011
On Wednesday another five NATO soldiers died in the 10-year war against the Taliban. Two Afghan policewomen and a civilian were killed by a mine on their way to work on Thursday.
Officials say the two policewomen and the civilian died when their vehicle was blown up by a remote-controlled mine on their way to work at the civilian airport serving the western city of Herat. The bomb was attached to a motorbike. The attack took place at around 8:00 am local time. According to a Herat hospital spokesman, the explosion wounded another 10 people.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said, three foreign soldiers were also killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday. Adding that two more soldiers had been killed in non-related incidents, one due to an insurgent attack in Wardak province in Eastern Afghanistan and another "as a result of a non-battle related injury" in southern Afghanistan.
The latest deaths came a day after the United Nations released figures saying that violent incidents in the Afghan war increased by nearly 40 percent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year. ISAF on the contrary disputes the figures, calling them "inconsistent with the data that we have collected".
The Interior Ministry blames the Taliban militants for the attack. It has been reported that Taliban militants heavily rely on roadside bombings to attack Afghan civilians and international forces.
Inconsistent data
The United Nations says security incidents have averaged 2,108 a month in the first eight months of 2011, up 39 percent on the same period in 2010. ISAF is set to give further details on Thursday of its own assessment of security statistics. According to independent website iCasualties.org, around 459 foreign soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan alone this year.
There are 140,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan, some 100,000 of them from the United States, fighting a Taliban-led insurgency. All combat troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, leaving Afghanistan in a vulnerable situation. Thousands of armed services personnel are expected to stay on as trainers and mentors.
Author: Marina Joarder (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Grahame Lucas