Italian soldier killed in mortar attack in west Afghanistan

An Italian soldier with the NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has been killed in a mortar attack in western Afghanistan's Farah Province. The attack which took place at around 6 pm (1300 GMT) Saturday at the Ice Forward Operative Base in the southeastern district of Gulistan also injured five soldiers, the Italian news agency ANSA said citing military officials. The wounded Italian soldiers were transferred by helicopter to a nearby military hospital. Rome has deployed 3,800 forces to Afghanistan as part of US-led troops. It has lost a total of 47 soldiers in the war-torn country. Italy is, however, among several NATO nations that have been hesitant to send soldiers to the restive southern and eastern areas of Afghanistan where the militants are most active and clash regularly with foreign troops. The security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of tens of thousands of US-led foreign forces in the country. 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.