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8 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan
By Robert Kennedy-
Associated Press
Updated: 2:20 p.m. on Thursday, October 14, 2010
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Eight NATO service members were killed in a spate of attacks in Afghanistan on Thursday, including four in roadside bombings, bringing the alliance's troop losses over the past two days to 14, officials said.
It has been the deadliest year for international forces in the nine-year Afghan conflict. Troop numbers have been ramped up to turn the screws on insurgents and casualties have mounted. The escalating toll has shaken the commitment of many NATO countries, with calls growing to start drawing down forces quickly.
A homemade bomb in western Afghanistan killed three service members Thursday, an alliance statement said without giving the nationalities of the dead or the specific location of the attack. American, Italian, Spanish and Lithuanian forces are deployed in the country's west.
NATO later announced another four troops died in the south — three in insurgent attacks and another in a blast.
The alliance said a service member also died in a militant attack in the east. Poland's Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was killed and another wounded Thursday when a patrol was attacked by mortar fire in eastern Ghazni province.
On Wednesday, insurgents killed six NATO troops, including four who died in a single bomb blast in the south.
At least 42 NATO service members have been killed so far this month, and more than 2,000 have died since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Roadside bombs have become the weapon of choice for militants in countering ramped up NATO-Afghan operations.
NATO said Thursday two insurgent leaders were killed in a raid in Ghazni. Afghan and NATO forces took heavy small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire as they moved in on a compound in Rashidan district Wednesday, an alliance statement said.
Troops returned fire, killing Mohammad Ali and Mowlana Fatih Sahib, described by NATO as senior Taliban leaders. Several other insurgents were killed, it said.
The Taliban have accused NATO of inventing Taliban leaders and alleging they were killed or captured in a propaganda campaign to demoralize the insurgents.