Three NATO occupation soldiers were killed in two separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan's volatile south, the alliance said Friday.

The three, whose nationalities were not released, were all killed on Thursday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

Cheap and easy to make and plant, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are the Taliban's main weapon in the war in Afghanistan, nearing the end of its ninth year.

A total of 408 occupation troops have been killed in the Afghan war so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the icasualties.org website.
The toll for July is 86, compared with 102 in June which was the worst month for military casualties since the 2001 US-led invasion.

NATO and the United States have close to 150,000 troops in the country, with 30,000 deployed to the southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

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