Four NATO occupation soldiers killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, taking to 224 the number of soldiers killed so far this year in the war-torn country.

Four NATO occupation soldiers killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, taking to 224 the number of soldiers killed so far this year in the war-torn country.

"Four International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan today,” NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement without revealing the nationalities of the soldiers.

The deaths bring to 224 the number of occupation troops killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent website icasualties.org. A total of 711 were killed last year.

More foreign troops were killed in April and May this year, the early stages of the annual fighting season in Afghanistan, than in the same months of any other year of the decade-long conflict.

The death toll stood at 110 -- up from 85 in the same period last year -- according to figures from icasualties.org.