NATO says American service member, Afghan child killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan

US service member, Afghan child killed in attacks

KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. service member was killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Monday, while an Afghan child was shot dead during a gunbattle between NATO forces and insurgents, the alliance said.

NATO did not provide further details on the death of the American.

Sunday’s fighting in eastern Kunar province started when militants attacked a small U.S. base in Watahpur district, according to Maj. Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the international military coalition.

Insurgents fired on the outpost and soldiers saw the rounds hit two children nearby, killing one and wounding the other, Johnson said.

Violence has risen in recent months along with a surge of U.S. troops into Afghanistan. In July, a record 66 American service members were killed, compared with 44 in July last year. A record total of 103 international forces died in June, more than triple the figure for the same month in 2009.

Civilian deaths also have risen. The Afghan human rights commission released a report Sunday saying noncombatant casualties were up 6 percent to 1,325 for the first seven months of 2010 compared with the same period last year.

Elsewhere, the NATO command announced that a German unmanned surveillance aircraft crashed Monday in Kunduz province. The statement said the aircraft lost altitude due to technical problems and was destroyed on impact.

KZO is a reconnaissance drone that can provide battlefield imagery as well as target data.