KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Five coalition service members were killed in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday as a result of three separate incidents, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

ISAF said three of its service members were killed in western Afghanistan as a result of a non-battle related injury. Another service member was killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, while a fifth died in eastern Afghanistan as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack.

As usual, the multinational force gave no other details about the incidents, including the exact locations and the nationalities of the service members involved. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," a brief statement said.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

So far this year, at least 335 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Most troops are killed in the country's south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians. Most of the casualties are American.

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