NATO soldier stabbed, killed near Kabul airport

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A coalition service member in Afghanistan was stabbed to death early Wednesday near the Kabul airport.

The identity and nationality of the member of the NATO-led force were not released, but Kabul's police chief said the victim was stabbed in the neck by an alleged low-level Taliban member who was arrested and confessed to the crime.

"An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member died of wounds as a result of an attack in eastern Afghanistan today," was the only official report thus far from the Kabul-based ISAF.

The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he died, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.

The soldier's death is the 58th thus far this year among ISAF forces in Afghanistan. There are presently 44,000 ISAF troops stationed in Afghanistan, down from 130,000 in 2010. About 30,700 of them are U.S. forces, a figure expected to decline to fewer than 10,000 by 2015.