3 NATO soldiers killed in Afghan roadside blast

KABUL—Three NATO soldiers were killed and one wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in eastern Afghanistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has said. The extremist Taliban movement that is waging an insurgency in war-shattered Afghanistan said it had carried out the attack in mountainous Nuristan province using a remote-controlled bomb.
The soldiers were on patrol in the province, which borders Pakistan, when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle, ISAF said in a statement. The 37-nation force does not release the nationalities of its casualties, leaving this up to the soldiers’ home nation. Most of the troops in eastern Afghanistan are from the United States.
Two soldiers were reported dead soon after the incident while the third died later, the force said. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif claimed the attack in a telephone call with reporters from an undisclosed location. He also put the death toll at three.
The 31,000-strong NATO force had already lost two other soldiers in combat since last week, one in southern Zabul province on Monday and the other in neighbouring Uruzgan on Saturday.—Agencies