11 Taliban, 1 NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan

KABUL — Eleven Taliban militants were killed in a joint operation by coalition and Afghan troops while a roadside bomb took the life of a NATO soldier in southern Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.

Coalition and Afghan troops attacked the militants in a compound Tuesday night in southern Zabul province, said police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang. No coalition or Afghan forces were killed or wounded in the operation, he said.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb killed a soldier in the NATO-led force on Tuesday, the alliance said. No other details, including the soldier’s nationality, were released.

Violence has risen steadily across Afghanistan in the last few years. In response, thousands of new U.S. troops are being deployed to the country this summer.

An Associated Press tally that found U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have risen to 65 so far this year, up from 36 over the first five months of 2008 — though U.S. and coalition troops have also killed hundreds more militants.

As newly arriving Marines enter violent Afghan south — the spiritual home of the Taliban and the country’s major drug-producing region — the military said Tuesday that U.S. deaths will likely increase even further this summer.

U.S. experts say they expect improvised explosive device attacks — roadside bombs and suicide attacks — to rise 50 percent this year, contributing to the increase in casualties.

President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 more troops into Afghanistan to bolster the roughly 40,000 already in the country. U.S. officials predict a rise in violence this summer as the troops enter militant-controlled areas where they haven’t previously operated.

The increase in violence has come at a high cost for militants as well. Insurgent deaths are up 90 percent so far this year, from 815 over the first five months of 2008, according to the AP count, which relies on statements from the Afghan government and international militaries.

The AP count shows that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces have killed 173 civilians this year, compared with 26 the same period last year. The tally also shows that militants have killed 242 civilians this year, down from 343 the first five months last year.

However, 126 civilian deaths are in dispute in the AP count. The Afghan government says 140 civilians died in U.S. airstrikes May 4-5 in Farah province, but the U.S. says that 20 to 30 civilians died. The AP count attributed 30 deaths to U.S. forces from that battle and labeled 110 deaths as being in dispute.