206 NATO troops poisoned in Afghanistan

NATO has confirmed that at least 206 troops working with the US-led military alliance have been poisoned near Mazar Sharif, capital of the northern Afghan province of Balkh, Press TV reports.

The NATO- led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) says the soldiers fell ill after dining in Camp Marmal near Mazar Sharif late Wednesday, a Press TV correspondent reported on Friday.

Around 138 of the victims are German while the rest are from other NATO countries engaged in the Afghan war.

Mazar Sharif is located some 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of the capital Kabul.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the incident as NATO has launched a probe into the cause of the food poisoning.

This comes as according to a United Nations report on September 28, Afghanistan saw a near 40-percent rise in the number of security incidents compared with the same period in 2010.

Violence has also spread from Afghanistan's volatile south to relatively peaceful areas over the course of the past year despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops.

The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

MAB/JR
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/204608.html