2 NATO soldiers, 1 civilian employee killed in S. Afghan blast

Two soldiers and a civilian employee with the NATO-led coalition forces were killed Saturday in a blast in southern Afghanistan, the coalition forces confirmed in a statement. ?

"An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan today", the NATO-led ISAF said in the statment.

"One coalition forces servicemember and one coalition forces civilian died following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan today", the coalition said without disclosing the nationalities of the victims under the ISAF policy.

Earlier Saturday, an official in southern Kandahar province told Xinhua that four security members with the Afghan intelligence agency, two NATO soldiers and a NATO civilian employees were killed and three other people were wounded in a Taliban suicide IED bomb attack in Maruf district bordering Pakistan at around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. ? ?

A total of 50 countries are contributing 100,000-strong forces in Afghanistan with over 68,000 of them American mainly stationed in the east and south, followed by 9,500 from UK mainly based in southern Afghanistan. More than 353 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanisan since beginning this year.