A second Nato-led soldier has been killed in action in Afghanistan this weekend, the alliance force said Sunday, after Britain announced one its troops had died in violence here.
The soldier, whose nationality has not been announced, died in a "hostile incident" in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the same day a British Marine died from wounds he sustained in direct fire with insurgents in southern Helmand province, it added.
Nato's 55,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not give further details, including the exact location of the incident. "This service member fought honourably for a safe and stable Afghanistan," ISAF said in a statement. Apart from the ISAF force, there are about 20,000 more US-led troops fighting a Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, a militant group that was in government between 1996 and 2001, has stepped up attacks in recent years in an insurgency launched to oust the US-backed government in Kabul. The latest fatalities come as US President Barack Obama's envoy Richard Holbrooke holds talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul. Afghanistan will join a major US review underway into the "war on terror," Karzai and Holbrooke announced Sunday amid concerns about an increase in extremism.