71 foreign soldiers are killed in deadliest month in Afghan war
Paul Tait | Reuters

KABUL: Two US troops were killed as the deadliest month for foreign forces of the Afghanistan war drew to a close, the military said on Friday, with commanders vowing to continue the fight despite the toll.

The deaths in southern Afghanistan brought to 41 the number of US troops killed in July, by far the heaviest monthly toll in the eight-year-old war. The worst previous month for US forces was in September 2008, when 26 were killed.

The latest deaths occurred in a firefight with insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the US military said, without giving further details. At least 71 foreign troops have been killed in July.

Britain has suffered its worst battlefield casualties since the 1980s Falklands War, with the 22 troops killed in the month taking its total losses in Afghanistan to 191, 12 more than were killed in the Iraq war.

Casualties spiked after thousands of US and British troops this month launched major operations in southern Helmand province, a Taleban stronghold and the center of Afghanistan’s opium production.

“We understood the return of security to these areas would not be achieved without sacrifice,” US Rear Admiral Greg Smith, chief spokesman for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said. “For some that has come at a high price.”

The Helmand operations are the first under US President Barack Obama’s new regional strategy to defeat the Taleban and its militant allies and stabilize Afghanistan. They come before crucial presidential elections on Aug. 20.

Violence has escalated across Afghanistan since the operations were launched.

There has also been a spate of election-related attacks, with at least three candidates or officials, including President Hamid Karzai’s vice-presidential running mate Mohammad Qasim Fahim, ambushed. No candidates have been hurt.

On Friday, a convoy carrying ballot papers was attacked by Taleban fighters in west Afghanistan, Farah province governor Ruhol Amin said. Four Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack.

The Helmand operations are the first phase of a new “clear, hold and build” strategy introduced after criticism that previous strategies lacked cohesion and direction.

Overstretched NATO forces had been previously been unable to hold ground they won.

The United States has around 62,000 troops in Afghanistan, out of a total foreign force of about 101,000. US forces are set to rise to some 68,000 by the end of the year.

The extra troops include 4,000 meant to help train Afghan security forces and will be followed by a “civilian surge” of several hundred meant to help Afghanistan rebuild institutions shattered by decades of war.

Civilian deaths have outraged many Afghans and caused friction between Washington and Karzai’s government.

A UN report released in Geneva on Friday found that 1,013 civilians had been killed between January and June this year, up from 818 in the same period last year.

The report also said civilian casualties were projected to rise as the battlefield in Afghanistan increasingly moved into residential areas.


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