NATO reports another service member killed in Afghanistan

NATO reports another Afghan death

KABUL — An international service member was killed Saturday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, NATO said, raising the number of alliance troops who have died in the country this month to at least 36.

A NATO statement did not identify the victim by nationality or provide further details.

However, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said a British soldier was killed Saturday in a blast near the flashpoint town of Sangin in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.

The alliance has been stepping up military operations in the south in a bid to turn back the Taliban, whose base is among the southern Pashtun ethnic community.

U.S., NATO and Afghan forces seized the town of Marjah in Helmand province from the Taliban last month and are stepping up operations in neighboring Kandahar province, the spiritual birthplace of the insurgency.

In March last year, 28 NATO service members died in Afghanistan, including 13 Americans.

Also Saturday, the international alliance reported that a day earlier Afghan and alliance forces raided a compound in the northern Helmand town of Musa Qalah, killing and detaining several suspected insurgents.

A NATO statement said the compound was believed to have been used to train Taliban fighters and store their weapons.

The force seized several assault rifles, about 10,000 rounds of ammunition, six rocket-propelled grenades and other weaponry, it said.

Elsewhere, two insurgents were captured Friday during a raid in the Nad-i-Ali district of Helmand, which includes Marjah. One of the insurgents was believed to be a Taliban commander who has planned attacks in Marjah and Nad-i-Ali, the NATO statement said.

In Logar province west of Kabul, a joint security force arrested two suspected Taliban members Friday, NATO said.