NATO service member killed in Afghanistan's restive south

A NATO soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in restive Afghanistan's southern region on Friday, the military alliance said on Saturday. "An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday," the NATO-led ISAF said in a statement. However, the brief statement did not provide details on the attack and the nationality of the victim, saying "it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities." Troops mainly from the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia have been stationed in southern Afghanistan known as Taliban hotbed. Militancy has been rampant since May this year when Taliban militants announced to launch spring offensive in the war-battered Afghanistan. Over 520 foreign soldiers, most of them Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.