Two French soldiers have been killed and another seriously wounded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said in a statement on Friday that a flight lieutenant died of his injuries after a Gazelle chopper crashed about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Bagram in northern Afghanistan, AFP reported.
The pilot of the helicopter was seriously injured, the statement added.
Another French soldier fatally wounded himself with his own gun while going back to Tagab base in the northeast following a mission on the same day.
The Friday’s incidents raise the number of casualties for French soldiers to at least 61 since the US-led invasion of the Asian country in 2001.
At least 238 foreign troops have lost their lives in war-torn Afghanistan in 2011.
Last year, nonetheless, remains the deadliest year so far for foreign military casualties with a death toll of 711. The number eclipsed the previous record of 521, set in 2009.
Hundreds of civilians have also been killed in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming increasingly outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.
Source: Press TV
11 June , 2011
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