Afghanistan ? Afghanistan’s recent spate of violence claimed the lives of two more NATO soldiers Wednesday, while the death toll in June among militants rose to 200. NATO did not provide the soldiers’ nationalities or specify where the fighting took place.

Both military and militant operations are intensifying, raising doubts about the prospects for stability in Afghanistan more than five years after a U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban regime from power for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

The deaths brought to 77 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count. Six have been killed in the last six days, including at least four U.S. soldiers. At least 38 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year.