Explosion Kills 4 Soldiers, Civilian in Kunar, Afghanistan
A roadside explosion in the province of Kunar, Afghanistan, killed four soldiers and a single civilian, NATO said on August 1st.
Independently, reports have also come in today of another soldier – a member of NATO’s ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) - who was fatally injured in a separate blast in another part of the country.
No information on the soldiers’ nationalities has yet been issued.
Aid Organisations in Afghanistan
The explosions coincided with the warnings of aid organisations at work in Afghanistan, who said that certain areas may become too violent to operate in.
In a statement, ISAF referred to the current state of Afghanistan as "a very difficult time”, adding that it expressed “...sincere condolences and sympathies...[to] the family and friends of the brave soldiers and civilian who died."
The civilian killed in the Kunar blast, the statement added, was an interpreter employed by ISAF.
ISAF in Afghanistan
NATO’s ISAF force in Afghanistan is comprised of approximately 53,000 soldiers. So far in 2008, almost 150 of its troops have been killed, statistics produced by news agency AFP detailed.
The majority of the soldiers deployed in Kunar are from the US.
A joint statement issued by 100 aid organisations highlighted how militant attacks were 50 per cent higher now than at the same time in 2007. Aid agencies, it added, were being targeted more and more.
Pakistani/ Insurgent Ceasefire
The increased number of militant attacks has been attributed by Kabul to a ceasefire established between insurgents on the Afghan/ Pakistani border and the government in Pakistan.
Elsewhere, according to officials, an attack in Kandahar on the evening of July 31st killed five members of the Afghan police.
Source – Armed Forces International’s Middle East Correspondent
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