Nato forces in Afghanistan today raised the death toll from a weekend clash with insurgents in the volatile east to five, making it the deadliest attack on foreign troops in six months.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) initially said three of its troops had been killed in the clash with insurgents in the east, but on Monday it said the toll had risen to five.
A total of seven Isaf troops were killed yesterday - a Dane and a Briton were also killed in explosions in the south - making it the worst single day for foreign troops since October 14th, when eight troops were killed in five separate incidents.
Three more were killed on Saturday as violence rose across Afghanistan with a string of attacks in the south, east, and north as well as the capital, Kabul.
The increasing violence will send a sobering message when Nato leaders meet from Friday in Lisbon. Afghanistan will top the agenda, with many European Nato leaders under pressure from an increasingly sceptical public to justify their support for the nine-year-old war.
The climbing death toll also precedes U.S. President Barack Obama's review of his Afghanistan war strategy in December, which comes amid sagging public support and after Obama's Democratic Party suffered a mauling in mid-term elections.
Violence across Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were overthrown by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001. Civilian and military casualties are at record levels despite the presence of about 150,000 foreign troops.
Reuters