KABUL, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 67 soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a number much higher than last year, have been killed this year in volatile Afghanistan, an ISAF spokesman said Wednesday.

    Among the deaths 56 were killed in action and 11 others died of non-combat action like traffic accidents, Maj. Luke Knittig told apress conference.

    Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgency, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed this year since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

    About 150 foreign troops including those from the U.S.-led coalition forces have been killed in Afghanistan this year, up from about 80 last year, the majority of whom belonged to coalition forces.

    The 32,000-strong ISAF has suffered much more fatalities since it took command in volatile southern and eastern regions, which are hotbeds of Taliban and other militants, in July and October from coalition troops.

    Before that, ISAF had been keeping security in the relatively calm central, eastern and northern regions in this country.

    A NATO spokesman Mark Laity said at the press conference that 261 people had been killed by suicide bombings this year in Afghanistan until last weekend.

    Among them were 47 Afghan security personnel, 18 ISAF soldiers,and 196 civilians, he said, adding the civilian deaths accounted for 75 percent of the total fatalities.