56 NATO troops killed in Afghanistan, Taliban claim

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan say they have killed at least 56 NATO soldiers in separate incidents across the war-ravaged country over the past 24 hours.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, Taliban spokesman, claimed on Thursday that forty soldiers were killed when their Shinok helicopter went down in Gorak district, Kandahar province.

The spokesman noted that twelve Romanian soldiers were also killed in the troubled southern Zabul province, while four others lost their lives in Uruzgan and Badgis provinces.

Ahmadi emphasized that most of the lethal attacks took place in the southern and eastern provinces where US troops have been fighting bloody battles with the insurgents in the past months.

This comes as US President Barack Obama is weighing a request for the deployment of additional 40,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The current year has been the deadliest for the foreign forces, as well as for Afghan civilians.

Eight years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the militants have extended their influence from their southern power base to the relatively peaceful north and west of the country.