Kabul: A US service member and a Canadian soldier died in separate roadside bomb explosions in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, announcing new deaths from a day that claimed the lives of nine international troops.
The American and Canadian died on Thursday, the same day a car bomber killed six Italian troops in a brazen attack in the heavily guarded capital of Kabul. A NATO soldier also died on Thursday of wounds from an earlier attack.
The car bomb in Kabul killed 10 Afghan civilians as well as the Italians, leaving a crater one meter deep and nearly twice as wide.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi called on Thursday for a “transition strategy” to allow the Afghan government to do more for its own security and decrease the number of international troops in Afghanistan.
The Italian deaths were the country’s greatest single loss in the war, but Berlusconi said his government remained committed to defending democracy in Afghanistan, “which is still very far from being a modern and civilised country”.
Italy's chief military officer in Afghanistan Maj Gen Marco Bertolini, who also serves as NATO's chief of staff, said the deaths do not diminish his country's commitment.
He insisted that the government and military “share together the strong will to accomplish our mission” and that no NATO forces are threatening to withdraw.
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