US has deadliest month in Afghan war

[unknownprince]

US has deadliest month in Afghan war
Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:54PM GMT

http://presstv.com/detail/196536.htmlAugust 2011 has become the deadliest month for US troops in the decade-long war in Afghanistan with 66 American soldiers killed in the month.


The figure, released by the Associated Press on Tuesday, eclipsed the earlier figure of 65 belonging to July 2010.

Most fatalities were those of an August 6 helicopter crash in which 30 US troops lost their lives. The victims were aboard a Chinook shot down by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Wardak Province in the single deadliest incident of the Afghan war.

Twenty-three other American troops died this month in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces in southern Afghanistan. The remaining 13 were killed in eastern Afghanistan.

Besides the 66 Americans killed so far this month, the US-led NATO coalition also suffered the loss of two British, four French, one New Zealander, one Australian, one Polish and five other troops whose nationalities have not yet been disclosed.

So far this year, 403 US-led soldiers, including at least 299 Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan, according to the AP tally.

There are currently about 150,000 US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan, almost 100,000 of them American forces.

US President Barack Obama has ordered the withdrawal of the 33,000 extra troops he dispatched to the war, with 10,000 to be out this year and another 23,000 to be withdrawn by the summer of 2012, leaving about 68,000 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

AGB/JR/HJL

[unknownprince]

Blast kills US-led soldier in Afghan war
Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:47PM GMT
UPDATE 1




A roadside bomb attack has killed at least one US-led soldier in the troubled southern Afghanistan, says the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).


The ISAF announced the casualty in a statement on Tuesday without giving further details, Reuters reported.

Roadside bombs are by far the most lethal weapon Taliban militants use against US-led foreign troops, Afghan forces as well as civilians.

Meanwhile, August becomes the deadliest month for US troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in the country.

A record 66 American troops have died so far this month, eclipsing the 65 killed in July 2010, a tally by the Associated Press said.

The rising number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

AGB/JR

[unknownprince]

66 U.S. Soldiers Killed in August

66 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan in August - The Daily Beast


August was the deadliest month so far of the war in Afghanistan. Sixty-six U.S. soldiers were killed, one more than in July 2010. This month’s high body count came mostly from a Taliban attack on a Chinook helicopter that killed 30 Navy SEALs. Another 23 soldiers were killed in the two southern provinces that are the focus of the current U.S. strategy. President Obama has ordered 10,000 troops to be brought home this year, and another 23,000 by next summer.