Five NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan: officials

Five NATO soldiers have been killed in southern Afghanistan, coalition officials said Tuesday, without giving the cause of the deaths or releasing the nationalities of the victims, AFP reports.

The deaths on Monday were the worst single incident for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since five British soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in the southern province of Kandahar on April 26.

The US-led force is winding down operations in Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting Taliban insurgents.

All remaining 50,000 NATO combat troops are due to leave the country by the end of this year, though a small US deployment will remain until the end of 2016 if a long-delayed deal is signed between Washington and Kabul.

"Five International Security Assistance Force service members died in southern Afghanistan yesterday," ISAF said in a brief statement.

"It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities."

The south and east of Afghanistan are the most violent parts of the country as the Taliban wage a guerrilla war against the Kabul government and remaining NATO troops.