NATO soldiers killed in Afghan road accident

Two NATO soldiers were killed in a road accident in northern Afghanistan, the alliance said today, as the number of foreign military deaths so far this year passed the 200 mark.

The force said the pair were killed late Tuesday while driving, without giving details or disclosing their nationalities.

An Afghan provincial governor said the two were Turkish.

"There was a traffic accident last night in which two Turkish military personnel were killed," Abdul Haq Shafaq, governor of Faryab province, where the accident happened, told AFP.

Turkey has around 730 soldiers in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

Military casualties have surged as troops battle their way into Taliban-controlled strongholds mainly in southern Afghanistan.

The independent www.icasualties-org website, which tracks military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan, says around 199 foreign soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan this year, without counting the latest deaths.

There are about 90,000 foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan to help the Kabul government curb a mounting Taliban-led insurgency now at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion.