A soldier with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed on Sunday in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.

ISAF did not identify the soldier, following its usual policy.
The soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast, it said in a statement.

The homemade bombs produced from cheap material are responsible for many of the NATO and Afghan troops’ casualties.

The death brings to 599 the number of foreign soldiers who have died in the Afghan war this year, according to an AFP tally based on one kept by the icasualties.org website.