KABUL, July 22: Five Nato soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Afghanistan at the weekend, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said on Sunday.

Four died in two roadside bomb explosions on Sunday, in the east and in the south, while another was killed in a militant attack in the east on Saturday, Isaf said.

In line with policy, the Isaf statement did not name the nationalities of the dead or give any further details. The latest deaths take the total toll among the US-led coalition so far this year to more than 250, according to the website icasualties.org.

Roadside bombs, a favourite weapon of Taliban militants, have taken a particularly heavy toll in Afghanistan this month.

Six American soldiers died in a huge blast on July 8 in the east, which is the focus of a Nato push against militants along the border with Pakistan.

On the same day, 18 civilians travelling in three vehicles were killed in southern Kandahar province.

Among other notable recent attacks, eight civilians, five Afghan policemen and two Nato soldiers were killed in three separateexplosions on Thursday. The attacks were blamed on Taliban militants.

For the past five years the number of civilians killed in the war has risen steadily, reaching a record 3,021 in 2011 — the vast majority caused by militants, according to UN figures.

Meanwhile, the top commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan said on Sunday that this year’s pullout of 23,000 American troops is at the halfway mark.

But he cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the drawdown, saying that foreign troops would fight through 2014, when the Nato combat mission ends, and beyond.

In an interview, Gen John Allen said Afghan security forces were increasingly taking the lead but needed more confidence in planning and executing missions.

He said the drawdown of 23,000 troops this year, now slightly more than half completed, would accelerate in the coming few months. “The preponderance still remains to go out,” Gen Allen said.

“August will be the heaviest month. A lot is coming out now and a great deal will come out in August and early September. We’ll be done probably around mid-September or so.”

Gen Allen said this summer's offensive operations were aimed at pushing militants farther from population centres, expanding the security zone around the capital, Kabul, and getting more Afghan forces into the lead in the east, including alongAfghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

In addition to repositioning Afghan and foreign forces on the battleground, military and police advisers are moving in to work with Afghan forces going forward.

President Barack Obama pulled out 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan last year and ordered another 23,000 to be withdrawn by Sept 30. That will leave roughly 68,000 troops still in the country.

By Oct 1, 40,000 Nato forces will also still be fighting with some 352,000 Afghan troops.

Excess military equipment and materiel also has started flowing out of the country. To get all the excess out by the end of 2014, Gen Allen said either a shipping container or a vehicle will have to be moved out “every seven minutes between now and then”.

However, he said it would be a mistake to focus too much on the exit of troops and equipment.—Agencies