3 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Three NATO soldiers have been killed in different incidents in Afghanistan's restive southern and eastern region, the military alliance said on Friday. "An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday," NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)confirmed in a statement on Friday. Two more NATO soldiers were killed in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks in eastern and southern part of the insurgency-hit country on Thursday, according to ISAF statements released late Thursday night. However, the brief statements did not disclose the nationalities of the victims under ISAF policy, only saying "it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities." Troops mainly from the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia have been stationed in the southern region within the framework of ISAF to fight Taliban militants while troops mostly from U.S. served in eastern Afghan provinces. Separately, another ISAF service member was injured in a blast in country's northern Kunduz province, a spokesman with the military alliance in Kunduz told Xinhua Friday, adding that a military vehicle was slightly damaged in the blast which occurred outside provincial capital Kunduz city late on Thursday. Over 470 NATO soldiers, most of them Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.