Three US troops were killed in east Afghanistan today.
A statement by Nato-led foreign forces said a patrol was hit by a roadside bomb and then attacked by unidentified insurgents with small-arms fire. The three troops were killed during the engagement, Nato said.
The latest deaths continue a deadly trend after foreign forces in July suffered their worst monthly toll of the eight-year-old war
Another three US soldiers were killed yesterday in the volatile south. Thousands of US Marines and British troops launched major new offensives in southern Helmand province at the start of last month.
A French soldier was also killed in the east yesterday.
Helmand has long been a Taliban stronghold and the centre of Afghanistan's opium production, which funds the insurgency.
July was the deadliest month of the war for foreign forces in Afghanistan, with at least 71 killed. A total of 41 US troops were killed, well above the previous monthly high of 26 in September 2008.
Britain also suffered its worst battlefield losses in almost a generation, with 22 killed in July.
Attacks across Afghanistan this year had already reached their worst level since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001 and escalated further after the Helmand operations began last month.
Violence has spread out of traditional Taliban strongholds in the south and east to other areas, with the Taliban also vowing to disrupt the August 20th presidential election.
Reuters