US soldiers die in Afghan attack

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Two US soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, a Nato statement said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement that the troops were killed on Tuesday, but gave no more details.

The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), the statement said.

More than 50 Nato troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the overwhelming majority by IEDs.

The coalition said that the latest attack happened on Tuesday, but did not provide further information.

The military usually holds back details of attacks until families have been informed.

Thirty American troops died in Afghanistan in January, compared with 14 in the same month of 2009.

At least 100,000 foreign military personnel are deployed in Afghanistan under Nato and US command. Of these, at least 74,000 are American.

President Barack Obama has announced that an additional 30,000 US troops will be deployed quickly in Afghanistan to fight the insurgency.

The reinforcements will take the total number of US troops in Afghanistan to more than 100,000.

Many of the new troops will be deployed to the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar - where the Taliban are concentrated.