8 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan

Kabul – Eight NATO troops died in a series of bombings targeting troops in southern Afghanistan, the International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) said Friday.

The first attack occurred Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, killing three troops, ISAF said in a statement. A fourth soldier died early Friday in a separate "insurgent attack."

Later Friday, four more troops were killed in another IED attack in southern Afghanistan, a statement said.

ISAF did not release the nationalities of any of the eight soldiers. The protocol is for further details about the incidents to be released by the soldiers' home countries.

Some 130,000 U.S.-led troops are fighting an insurgency by hardline Taliban Islamists against the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. In 2012, more than 560 foreign troops died in the conflict.