Three NATO troops have died in eastern Afghanistan in what local officials say was an attack by two suicide bombers.

A NATO statement said the troops died Wednesday after an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, but gave no further details.

Local officials said the suicide bombers struck a NATO foot patrol in Kunar province.

Also Wednesday, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan released a new report saying civilian casualties declined by 15 percent in the first half of this year.

The report says anti-government elements are responsible for 80 percent of the casualties, with improvised explosive devices accounting for most of those killed and wounded.

Afghan and NATO forces accounted for 10 percent of the total. The final 10 percent could not be attributed to any party.

U.N. official Nicholas Haysom says the United Nations welcomes the reduction, but that Afghans are still being killed an injured “at an alarming rate.”