Coalition patrol fights off attack by Afghan militants

[unhappycamper]

Specialist Moore Charles looked through his gun’s scope during a patrol in Chowkay district yesterday.


Coalition patrol fights off attack by Afghan militants
By Elena Becatoros
Associated Press / December 29, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — A coalition patrol fought off an insurgent attack in mountainous eastern Afghanistan yesterday, on a day when two servicemen were killed in the country’s troubled south, bringing the death toll for foreign troops in the country 2010 to 700, according to an Associagted Press count.

This year is by far the deadliest for the coalition in the nearly decade-long war, as tens of thousands of additional international troops have poured into the country in an effort to suppress a Taliban insurgency. But while NATO and the United States say progress has been made in the militants’ traditional strongholds in the south, they acknowledge that the gains made remain precarious.

Security has also deteriorated in the north, while many parts of eastern Afghanistan, along the border with Pakistan, remain violent and under militant control. NATO forces often engage in heavy fighting there.

~snip~

This year has been by far the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war. Previously, the worst year of war in terms of coalition deaths was 2009, with 504 foreign troops killed, according to the AP count.

While the increased numbers of troops and stepped-up operations account for more military casualties, it is civilians who have often borne the brunt of the war. A recent United Nations report said it documented 2,412 conflict-related civilian casualties in the first 10 months of the year. More than three-quarters of them were caused by militant activity, a 25 percent increase from the same period in 2009, the report said.



unhappycamper comment: Like we used to say in the AP - "If it's news, it's news to us."

Here's a news flash for ya:

http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

Afghanistan Coalition Military Fatalities By Year

Year US UK Other Total

2009 317 108 96 521
2010 497 103 109 709