KABUL, Afghanistan � Two more NATO service members have been killed in weekend attacks in Afghanistan, the military coalition said Sunday.
The deaths come a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave a rousing speech to Afghan troops calling on them to be ready to take charge of protecting and defending the nation because international troops will eventually leave.
This has been the deadliest year of the nine-year Afghan war for international troops, and the rising death toll has added to calls in many NATO countries to start drawing down troops quickly. Monthly deaths peaked in June � when 103 NATO forces were killed.
The latest deaths included one service member who died Sunday in a battle with insurgents in the north, and another who was killed by a bomb attack Saturday in the south.
No other details were provided, in keeping with NATO's policy of waiting for national authorities to release information on their own casualties.
The deaths bring to seven the number of NATO service members killed in the first three days of October. At least 57 NATO service members were killed in September, including 42 Americans, according to an Associated Press tally.
In his Saturday speech, Karzai said, "It is possible that one day this international community, which is with us today, will not see a benefit in Afghanistan any more and leave us � like they left us in the past."
"What then is the task of the Afghan people, the Afghan government and the Afghan armed forces? Maintaining and developing the national interests of our country," he added.
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