Increased military operations behind high death toll: NATO

Intensified military operations against the Taliban are behind a surge in troop deaths in Afghanistan, NATO said Sunday, as the alliance announced the 94th fatality in a record month for casualties.NATO's International Security Assistance Force said four more foreign soldiers had died in attacks, including two US personnel killed in gunfights. The Norwegian defense ministry confirmed the nationalities of the four killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's north on Sunday. A fifth ISAF service member was killed during an attack by insurgents in the south Sunday. Another NATO service-member from an unspecified country died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, and a fourth in a bomb blast on Saturday. The deaths bring to 314 the total number of soldiers to have died in Afghanistan this year. The number killed in June alone stands at 94, according to the count, by far the deadliest monthly toll since the war began.