Five more American soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan Tuesday, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in the war-torn country since Saturday to 19.
NATO said four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the east, while the fifth died in a gunfight with insurgents in the south.
On Monday, seven American troops and an Estonian soldier were killed in bomb attacks in the south, while another seven U.S. soldiers died in separate attacks on Saturday and Sunday.
U.S. President Barack Obama warned Tuesday of a "tough fight" ahead in Afghanistan, with more casualties likely.
The head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, acknowledged Tuesday that the Taliban are expanding their influence, even as coalition forces close in on their southern strongholds.
Petraeus said the last of the additional 30,000 troops Mr. Obama ordered to Afghanistan will arrive in the next few days, bringing the number of U.S. and NATO forces in the country to nearly 150,000.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday voiced support for Afghan forces to begin taking charge of the country's security in 2011. He said during an official visit to his native Denmark the issue would be taken up during the upcoming NATO summit in November.
In violence Tuesday, gunmen on a motorcycle killed three Afghan Supreme Court employees traveling on a bus near Kabul. At least 12 others were wounded.
And British aid group Oxfam said it was temporarily suspending operations in northern Badakhshan province after a roadside bomb killed two of its Afghan staff workers and a volunteer Monday.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
