Afghanistan's death toll

At least three NATO soldiers and one Afghan civilian are killed in a suicide attack in Eastern Afghanistan Wednesday.

Violence has surged across the country as the Taliban launched its yearly summer offensive this April.

Increasingly it is Afghan forces that have come under fire, by a ratio of one to five.

Major General David Berger in Kabul was made available to Reuters by the Pentagon.

SOUNDBITE: MAJOR GENERAL DAVID BERGER , SAYING (English):

"More and more the insurgents, the Taliban, are targeting Afghan forces and less of us."

The attack comes as the UN is reporting a 15 percent drop in civilian casualties, the first decline in five years.

But while the trend may be encouraging the numbers are still staggering -- more than 1,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of the year.