6 coalition troops slain in attacks in Afghanistan

Six NATO service members were killed Wednesday in three separate attacks across Afghanistan, Western military officials said, including a roadside bombing in the violent south in which four troops died.

The other two deaths occurred in a separate explosion in the south and an attack in the east, the officials said.

With more than two months to go, 2010 has already been the most lethal of the conflict for Western forces. In July, U.S. troop deaths hit the highest level of the war, which entered its 10th year this month.

Better mine-resistant military vehicles have helped reduce deaths from roadside bombs, but occasionally a single catastrophic blast claims multiple lives. Hidden bombs -- crude devices most often planted in roadbeds, but also in fields, dirt paths and mud-brick compounds -- remain the largest killer of Western troops in Afghanistan.

The nationalities of the latest fatalities were not immediately disclosed, in keeping with the policy of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force to wait until next of kin are notified. In the country’s south, Americans make up the largest troop contingent.

The number of American forces in Afghanistan now stands at about 100,000, making up roughly two-thirds of the international force. The bulk of U.S. troops is deployed in the south, where the insurgency is strongest, but significant numbers also serve in the east, near the border with Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Recent fighting has been concentrated in the south, in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, but the insurgents have also pushed into other areas that previously were relatively calm, including large swaths of the country’s north.

Also Wednesday, Afghan authorities revealed the nationalities of eight civilian contractors killed in the crash near Kabul of a cargo plane operating under U.S. contract. Six were Filipino, one Indian and one Kenyan, the Afghan military said.

The L-100 Hercules, on a short-hop flight from Bagram airfield, slammed into a steep mountainside Tuesday evening while on approach to Kabul’s airport.

laura.king@latimes.com