KABUL (BNO NEWS) — Four coalition service members, two Britons and two Americans, were killed in three separate attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Saturday.

Two of the service members were killed as a result of injuries sustained in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said. The blast happened while the service members were on a joint foot patrol in the Sangin District of Helmand Province.

The British Ministry of Defence confirmed a marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines serving as part of Combined Force Sangin was killed in the explosion. A BNO News source confirmed that the second fatality was a U.S. Marine.

“It is with great sadness I must inform you that a marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in Sangin on Friday evening,” said Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand. “He was on a joint foot patrol with his fellow marines and members of the United States Marine Corps, which was supported by the Afghan National Army, when he was struck by an explosion. He died seeking to protect and reassure the local population in and around Sangin. He will be greatly missed by his many friends and his actions will not be forgotten.”

In a separate explosion on Saturday, a British soldier from The Royal Dragoon Guards serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (North) was killed. It happened in the Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand Province.

“He was part of a dismounted patrol that was providing security to enable new roads and security bases to be constructed to the north-east of Gereshk when tragically he was struck by an explosion,” Carr-Smith said. “His courage, sacrifice and selfless commitment will never be forgotten. We will remember him.”

And in another attack on Saturday, in eastern Afghanistan, one American service member was killed as a result of an IED explosion. Further details were not immediately released.

Coalition casualties have been rising sharply this year, with more than 100 troops being killed in June alone. On Thursday, two American service members were killed as a result of an IED attack in southern Afghanistan.

And on Wednesday, four American service members died as a result of injuries sustained in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan. A fifth American died as a result of a small-arms attack, also in southern Afghanistan.

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