A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member has been killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, according to a statement posted on the website of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
ISAF did not disclose the identity of the soldier killed on Saturday in accordance with its policy of leaving casualty identification procedures to the U.S. Defense Department. In cases of deaths of soldiers from countries other than the U.S., ISAF defers identification procedures to relevant national authorities.
According to media estimates, at least 384 ISAF personnel have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year with U.S. soldiers topping the list with 294. Notably, most of the ISAF casualties have been in southern Afghanistan, where the foreign coalition is attempting to retain control over the territories captured from Taliban militants over the past two years.
Incidentally, the final batch of 33,000 U.S. surge troops President Barack Obama sent to the warn-torn country last year had returned home on schedule in August after successfully completing their mission.
Nevertheless, some 68,000 American soldiers remain in Afghanistan to fight Taliban insurgency alongside their NATO and Afghan partners. Currently, there are over 104,900 foreign troops from more than 48 countries in Afghanistan to contain a resurgent Taliban in the land-locked country.
The U.S. and other allied nations involved in the Afghan mission are currently making serious efforts to get the Afghan security forces ready and capable of handling the country's security before the planned withdrawal of coalition troops by the end of 2014.
ISAF has already begun the process of entrusting security responsibilities of several provinces to Afghan forces. However, there are wide concerns about the ability of Afghan security forces to counter the Taliban insurgency without the same level of foreign military assistance and presence.
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