Two NATO Soldiers, Three Afghans Killed in Attacks

Two soldiers with the NATO-led military alliance were on Saturday killed in an attack by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The alliance did not give more details.

In the northern Kunduz province, Taliban insurgents on Friday shot dead a religious scholar, a tribal leader and a policeman in a mosque. A local official said the Taliban accused the three men of supporting the government.

Violence is on the rise in Afghanistan. The number of attacks on NATO troops in June was the highest since September 2010.

Some 260 foreign troops were killed this year in Afghanistan, according to independent website iCasualties.org.