Three US soldiers were killed and three wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan Tuesday, NATO said, taking the number of American service personnel to die in the war-torn country this year to 12.
NATO’s Resolute Support mission would not immediately release any details about the soldiers, but said they had been killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near Ghazni city in central Afghanistan.
An American contractor was also wounded, it said, adding that the four injured in the blast were receiving medical care.
The casualties come just days after another US soldier was killed in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province on Saturday.
An initial review showed the soldier was “likely accidentally shot by our Afghan partner force”, a NATO statement said Tuesday, adding that the “tragic” incident occurred as they engaged in a battle with al Qaeda militants.
“There are no indications he was shot intentionally,” the statement added, naming the soldier as Sgt Jasso without giving a first name.
General Scott Miller, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Jasso was killed “defending our nation, fighting al Qaeda alongside our Afghan partners”.