Foreign soldier killed in Afghanistan, first combat death in 6 weeks

USPA News - A coalition service member was killed Friday in an insurgent attack in northern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Saturday, marking the first combat-related death of a foreign soldier in more than six weeks. ISAF said one of its service members was killed on Friday as a result of an "enemy forces attack" in northern Afghanistan, where deadly attacks are relatively rare when compared to the country`s south and east.

The multinational force, which defers the release of specific details to national authorities, gave no other details about the attack, including the exact location or the casualty`s nationality. "At this time I do not have any details on the incident," ISAF spokesman Commander Elliott Wright said. Friday`s casualty marked the first combat-related death among foreign troops in Afghanistan in more than six weeks. American soldier Andrew Weathers, 30, died at a hospital in Germany on September 30 after being injured two days earlier when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire in Afghanistan`s south. The latest death raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 69, according to official figures. A total of 160 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2013, down from 402 fatalities in 2012 and 566 in 2011. A majority of the fallen troops were American and were killed in the country`s south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians. There are currently nearly 35,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including some 24,050 U.S. troops and 2,840 British service members. Most foreign troops are scheduled to leave the war-torn country by the end of the year, but a security deal signed by Afghanistan`s new president will keep American troops in the country until the end of 2016.