3 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb attack

Three U.S. soldiers died after a roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, NATO said in a statement.

A brief statement from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force did not make it clear if the deaths were during the assault on Marjah, in the south’s Helmand province, or a reported suicide bomb attack in neighbouring Kandahar.

“Three ISAF servicemembers from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan today,” it said, referring to improvised explosive devices, the Taliban’s main weapon.

The deaths bring to 69 the total number of foreign soldiers to die in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the icasualties.org website, following a record 520 for 2009.

The vast majority have been killed by IEDs, which are planted by roadsides, can be detonated from up to two kilometres away, and pack up to 2,000 pounds of explosives, experts have said.