As efforts made by the Afghan government and the international community have been continuing to ensure durable stability in the post-Taliban nation, militancy and conflicts have left nearly 100 people dead over the past three days in the war-torn country.
Only on Wednesday, according to officials, one soldier of the US-led Coalition lost his life while involved in combat operation in the troubled Helmand province in south Afghanistan.
"One soldier with the US-led Coalition forces was killed in southern Afghan province of Helmand Wednesday morning," said a Coalition statement.
The Coalition forces were conducting combat operations when their vehicle was targeted by a roadside bombing, the statement said.
However, the Coalition troops in the statement did not identify the nationality of the victim, saying the identity and nationality of the service member will be released pending notification of next of kin.
It is the second soldier of the international troops killed in Helmand province over the past two days as earlier on Tuesday a trooper of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) was killed in an explosion while on patrol in the restive province bring the number of the international forces' casualties to more than 100 in the militancy-plagued central Asian state where some 70,000-strong multi-national troops have been stationed to hunt down militants.
Coalition forces, moreover in a statement added that the alliance killed several militants including a commander in the southern Helmand province on Tuesday.
Coalition forces searched compounds in Req district targeting a militant leader known to conduct financing operations, facilitate foreign fighters and smuggle narcotics in the area, according to the statement.
The alliance added that it identified several armed militants maneuvering against the force and responded with small-arms fire and air strikes, killing the militants.
Meanwhile, combat operations and firefights have left more than 70 insurgents dead in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province, officials said.
"Operations against Taliban militants and using airpower against their hideouts in the districts of Bermal, Gomal and Sarobi killed 73 enemies over the past three days," police chief of Paktika province Nabi Jan Mullahkhil told Xinhua.
Moreover, Gul Mohammad, a military officer in the neighboring Paktia province, told Xinhua that four militants were killed Tuesday night while planting a mine on the road in Zarmat district as the mine exploded prematurely.
Taliban militants have yet to make comment while government officials are reluctant to say if there were any casualties on their side over the past three days.
The militants in a surprise attack on a supply convoy in Sayedabad district of Wardak province 70 km southwest of capital Kabul on Tuesday destroyed or damaged 40 trucks and run away, the officials said.
Attacks on international troops are on the rise during past weeks especially in southern and eastern Afghanistan where the Taliban militants continue to demonstrate their strength through suicide and roadside bombings.
Escalating insurgency and more and more violent activities have killed over 2,000 people since January this year in Afghanistan.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2008)
