KABUL: Nato says five service members have been killed in attack in southern Afghanistan. A statement from the international alliance on Tuesday says that all five soldiers died on Monday. It did not give further details on where the attack happened nor the nationality of the soldiers killed in the attack. Coalition policy is for home countries to identify their military dead. The deaths bring to 36 the number of Nato soldiers killed so far this year in Afghanistan, with eight service members killed in June.

Casualties have been falling in the US-led military coalition as its forces pull back to allow the Afghan army and police to fight the Taliban insurgency. All combat troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from the country by the end of this year.