More foreign troop deaths in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight NATO troops were killed in Afghanistan Thursday, bringing the number of foreign troop deaths in the past two days to 14, the International Security Assistance Force said.

An improvised explosive device attack killed three service members in the west, and two died in an insurgent attack in the south.

One died after an insurgent attack in the east, one died in an insurgent attack in the south and another was killed in an IED attack in the south.

It's the first time since August 30 that so many international troops have been killed in hostile incidents in Afghanistan in a single day, according to CNN records. On that day, seven Americans, a Canadian and an Estonian were killed.

On Wednesday, six foreign troops were killed.

ISAF has not announced the nationalities of any of the recently slain, in line with policy leaving identification up to the victims' home countries.

Forty-one coalition service members have died this October in Afghanistan so far.

It's the deadliest year of the nine-year-old war for foreign troops. The number of coalition service members killed so far in 2010 now stands at 587.

The highest monthly coalition death toll occurred in June, with 103 foreign troop deaths, a figure that includes Americans and service members other nations.

In July, 65 Americans died, the highest monthly death toll for U.S. service members.

The deaths come at a time when the war has become a subject of fierce debate in the United States and other countries that have contributed troops to the war effort.

Gen. David Petraeus, who took command this summer as the top military official in Afghanistan, led the 2007-2008 campaign to stabilize Iraq after years of insurgent and sectarian warfare following the U.S. invasion of 2003.

Meanwhile, Afghan and ISAF forces killed several insurgents and detained many others Wednesday in the Nahr-E Saraj district of Helmand province, ISAF reported Thursday. And in Ghazni province, troops killed a Taliban senior leader and improvised explosive device expert, ISAF said.

CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report