NATO loses 16 soldiers in three days of Afghan war

KABUL, Oct 15, 2010 (AFP) - A foreign soldier fighting the Afghan insurgency was killed by a Taliban-style bomb Friday, NATO said as it announced that another soldier died from injuries sustained in a similar attack a day earlier.

KABUL, Oct 15, 2010 (AFP) - A foreign soldier fighting the Afghan insurgency was killed by a Taliban-style bomb Friday, NATO said as it announced that another soldier died from injuries sustained in a similar attack a day earlier.

The deaths bring to 16 the number of foreign soldiers -- at least six of them Americans -- to have died in the war since Wednesday, according to an AFP tally.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said a "service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today". It did not give further details.

There are more than 150,000 international troops deployed in Afghanistan trying to defeat a Taliban-led insurgency aimed at toppling the country's Western-backed democracy.

The rebels have stepped up attacks every year since the Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

To root out the rebels, Washington deployed an extra 30,000 reinforcements this year as the basis of a surge strategy aimed at speeding an end to the war. About 10,000 more NATO troops were also deployed.

This year, the deadliest yet for foreign forces, 590 NATO-led soldiers have been killed, according to a toll based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website, compared to 521 killed last year.

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