US-led forces have lost two more soldiers in Afghanistan as militants step up their attacks against foreign forces in the war-battered country.
A NATO statement said on Saturday that one of its service members lost his life in a militant ambush in Afghanistan’s volatile east.
The nationally of the soldier and the exact location of the attack have been withheld.
The US-led military alliance says another soldier died of non-combat-related injury in the north on Friday.
At least 697 US-led foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, making 2010 the deadliest year for foreign forces in the nine-year-long war.
This comes days after US President Barack Obama declared “progress” in the war in Afghanistan despite US-led troops having the highest casualty rate in the war-ravaged country in 2010.
The upsurge in the number of casualties among US-led foreign forces in tandem with the heavy civilian casualties have provoked a barrage of criticism from countries which have contributed troops to the prolonged Afghan mission.
Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the country’s troubled southern and eastern provinces.
Despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign forces, militant attacks have climbed in Afghanistan.
The invasion of Afghanistan took place with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the country. Nine years on, however, Afghanistan remains unstable and civilians continue to pay the price.
The Pentagon admitted in a recent report that the US has failed to establish security in Afghanistan.
