British, NATO troops killed in Afghanistan

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German soldiers stand guard during a visit by ISAF officials to patients wounded during a NATO airstrike in Afghanistan's Kunduz province. —AFP

KABUL, Sept 14 (AP): A British soldier was killed in an attack on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, while a second NATO service member died in a bomb blast, NATO and British officials said Monday.
The British soldier, who has not been named, was shot Sunday while patrolling in the Babaji district of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, Britain's defense ministry said.
The soldier's death brings to 214 the number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations there began in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
A second service member from NATO's International Security Assistance Force was killed Sunday in a bomb blast in the south, NATO said Monday. No other details, including the service member's nationality, were released. Taliban militants this year have increased their use of roadside bombs, which now account for the majority of U.S. and NATO casualties.
Violence has risen across Afghanistan in the last three years as the resurgent Taliban regained control of large swaths of countryside. Fighting has been particularly harsh this summer in the south, where thousands of U.S. troops have deployed to bolster the Canadian and British-led operations in the Taliban heartland.
The US and NATO have a record number of troops in Afghanistan - nearly 100,000 in total - and the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, is likely to soon request thousands more.
This year has been the deadliest for US and NATO troops since the 2001 invasion.