Three NATO soldiers were killed in separate attacks in eastern Afghanistan at the weekend, the International Security Assistance Force said. Two died in a roadside bomb explosion early Sunday and another was killed in an insurgent attack Saturday, ISAF said, without giving further details or naming the nationalities of the dead. The latest deaths take the total toll among the US-led coalition so far this year to 250, according to an AFP count based on the website icasualties.org. Roadside bombs, a favourite weapon of Taliban insurgents, have taken a particularly heavy toll in Afghanistan this month. Six American soldiers died in a huge blast on July 8 in the same eastern region of the country, which is the focus of a NATO push against insurgents along the border with Pakistan. On the same day, 18 civilians travelling in three vehicles were killed in southern Kandahar province, Among other notable recent attacks, eight civilians, five Afghan police and two NATO soldiers were killed in three separate explosions last Thursday. The attacks were blamed on Taliban insurgents, hardline Islamists who have waged a decade-long campaign to topple the government of President Hamid Karzai, which is backed by 130,000 NATO troops. For the past five years the number of civilians killed in the war has risen steadily, reaching a record 3,021 in 2011 — the vast majority caused by insurgents, according to UN figures.
