The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan confirmed late on Wednesday that four of its service-members were killed in an insurgent attack in the east of the war-torn Asian nation.
"We can confirm four International Security Assistance Force service-members died following an indirect fire attack in eastern Afghanistan today," ISAF said in a statement.
It, however, did not disclose where exactly the incident happened, or the identities or nationalities of the deceased soldiers in accordance with its policy of not announcing such details until the home country of the victims does so.
Nevertheless, media reports citing local officials had indicated earlier in the day four American soldiers were killed after they were hit by "indirect fire" from insurgents at Bagram airbase, located close to the Afghan capital Kabul.
According to ICasualties.org, an independent website that monitors military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latest deaths brought to 91 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, with U.S. troops topping the list with 69 deaths.
Notably, the attack on Bagram came just hours after the White House announced that the Taliban has agreed to hold direct peace talks with the U.S. over the future of Afghanistan. Taliban reportedly agreed to the talks after the U.S. dropped a series of preconditions it had set earlier for any negotiations with the insurgent group.
Media reports suggested that the talks between U.S. officials and Taliban may begin as early as this week in Qatar's capital Doha, where the Taliban opened their first overseas office. They added that those negotiations may be followed by a meeting between the Taliban and the High Peace Council in Qatar.
Currently, there are over 97,000 foreign troops from more than 48 countries in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF with the U.S. leading with 68,000 soldiers.
Bulk of the foreign forces are expected to remain in Afghanistan until the planned withdrawal of the entire coalition troops by end of 2014. With the transfer of the country's security responsibility to Afghan security forces on Tuesday, foreign troops will now limit their activities to supporting combat operations when requested; training Afghan forces; and providing helicopters to take out casualties.
Although NATO and its member-states have welcomed the transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan forces as a major milestone in Afghanistan's future development, there are widespread concerns about the ability of Afghan security forces to counter Taliban insurgency without foreign military assistance.
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