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Two NATO Soldiers Killed in Southern Afghanistan


NATO says two of its soldiers were killed Wednesday during separate clashes with insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

Britain's Defense Ministry later released a statement, saying one of the two soldiers was British. It says the soldier died after his company came under attack by militants as they tried to clear a Taleban compound in the Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand province.

The identity of the other NATO soldier has not been announced.

Around 77 international troops have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere, in the southern province of Uruzgan, at least two militants were killed and nine others detained during a joint operation by U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces.

In another incident, a local district chief in eastern Paktika province died of his injuries after a bomb he was attempting to defuse went off unexpectedly.

Southern and eastern Afghanistan are the center of the Taleban-led insurgency.

Last year's fighting was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taleban in 2001. The violence has continued this year.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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