KABUL, Oct 6: Four soldiers belonging to the Nato-led force in Afghanistan were killed by insurgents during an operation on Sunday, while a fifth was shot dead by a security guard over the weekend in the country’s south.

The Taliban have been recovering ground in the south as forward operating bases have shut as part of the plan to withdraw most foreign troops by the end of 2014.“Four... were killed by enemy forces during a partnered operation,” the release by the joint command said.

The US-led international military coalition said four of its service members were killed in the south, and a military official confirmed all were Americans killed by an “improvised explosive device”.

Their deaths bring the toll among foreign forces to 132 this year, of which 102 are from the United States. At least, 2,146 members of the US military have died in Afghanistan as a result of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. They are part of a total of nearly 3,390 coalition personnel that have died during the conflict.

Also in southern Afghanistan, a security guard shot one soldier dead in on Saturday. A spokesman for the Nato-led force said the nationality of the security guard was under investigation.

So-called “insider attacks” on foreign soldiers by their Afghan allies escalated last year prompting coalition troops to heighten security measures and reduce interaction between foreign and Afghan forces.

The move has helped stem the number of incidents this year but also further eroded trust between foreign service members and their Afghan allies.—Agencies