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Roadside bombs kill 5 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan
Kabul—Two separate roadside bombs killed five NATO
soldiers in eastern Afghanistan Friday, a bloody start to the month
in an already deadly year for U.S. and NATO forces in the country.
Four of the soldiers and a civilian were killed in Kunar province,
the alliance said in a statement. The fifth soldier died in Khost,
another eastern province. The alliance did not release the
nationalities of the soldiers, but most of the troops in those areas
are American.
A Taliban-led insurgency is raging in Afghanistan nearly seven years
after the fundamentalist Muslim regime was ousted in a U.S.-led
invasion. An Associated Press count based on accounts from Afghan
and Western officials indicates that more than 2,700 people — most
of them militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this
year.
The insurgency is particularly strong in Afghanistan’s south and
east. But a statement Friday by the Agency Coordinating Body for
Afghan Relief noted that violence is now reaching other provinces,
even those bordering the capital, Kabul, such as Logar and Wardak.
“Insecurity has spread to areas which were previously relatively
stable in parts of north, northwest and central Afghanistan,” it
said.
Drawing on other recent reports, it said “aid organizations and
their staff have been subject to increasing attacks, threats and
intimidation by both insurgent and criminal groups.”
It cited a group that advises aid agencies on security that recently
reported there were 2,056 insurgent attacks in the six months
through June, a 52 percent increase from the same period of 2007.
The report from the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office also said that 19
aid workers have been killed so far this year, compared to 15 in all
of 2007. ACBAR said initial estimates suggest more than 260
civilians were killed in July alone, higher than any other month in
the last six years.
The statement also said that in the south, violence has forced the
closure of a large number of schools and health facilities, and “has
caused significant levels of internal displacement.” It noted that
parts of Afghanistan are experiencing “severe drought” and that food
prices are rising as well, adding to the hardships of an already
impoverished population. “Increasing and spreading insecurity is
jeopardizing the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance to
these people and threatening their lives and livelihoods,” the
statement said.—AP |
