17 foreign soldiers lose life in Afghanistan in 2017

Seventeen service members of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission lost their lives in fighting Afghan insurgency in 2017, according to an independent website.

The NATO and U.S. forces completed their combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after 13 years of military presence in the country.

Around 16,000 troops from U.S., NATO and other partner countries are in Afghanistan presently providing training to the Afghan forces within the framework of the NATO-led RS mission.

Those among the killed soldiers were 15 U.S. soldiers, one service member from Romania and a soldier from Georgia, according to iCasualties.org.

The eastern province of Nangarhar has been the deadliest place for the coalition forces last year, as out of the casualties eight service members were lost in Nangarhar, according to the website, which tracks fatalities of foreign forces.

Nangarhar is a known Islamic State group stronghold while scores of Taliban militants also have presence there.

Out of the casualties, four U.S. soldiers died in none-hostile incidents in last year.

The Romanian soldier died after a suicide car bombing struck a coalition military convoy in southern Kandahar province on Sept. 15.

The Georgian soldier was killed as a result of a direct fire on Sept. 3 in eastern Parwan province where Bagram Airfield, the main base of coalition forces, is located.

At the same time, Afghan security forces and the NATO-led coalition troops have beefed up security operations and airstrikes as Taliban militants and Islamic State fighters are attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions during the winter in the mountainous country.

So far in 2018, one U.S. solider died following a hostile fire incident in Achin district of Nangarhar.