Insurgents kill American soldier in southern Afghanistan

USPA News - Insurgents attacked coalition service members in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing one American, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on early Friday. It raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 370. ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an insurgent attack in Afghanistan`s south, which is one of the most volatile regions in the war-torn country.

But because the multinational force defers the release of specific details to national authorities, no other details about the incident were immediately available, including the exact location. "A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan today," a statement said. "It is USFOR-A policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the U.S. Department of Defense, who will release the name once next of kin have been notified." The death on Thursday raises the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 370, according to unofficial figures. A total of 566 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2011, down from 711 in 2010. 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 more than 112,500 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 74,400 U.S. troops and 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops by the end of this summer, and 15,000 of them have already left in recent weeks. Foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.