Coalition death toll in Afghanistan so far this year reaches 400

[News_Editor]

Coalition death toll in Afghanistan so far this year reaches 400

2011-08-17 03:38:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Two more coalition service members were killed in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said, raising the coalition death toll so far this year to 400.

ISAF said two of its service members were killed as a result of two non-battle related incidents in eastern and southern Afghanistan. As usual, the multinational force gave no other details about the incidents, including the exact locations.

The nationalities of the service members were also not immediately disclosed by ISAF. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," a brief statement said.

The toll is a grim reminder that insurgent groups such as the Taliban and the Haqqani Network are still capable of inflicting heavy losses on coalition forces, but the number is slightly lower when compared to last year. A total of 435 coalition service members were killed between January 1 and August 16 last year.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

But for now, the coalition death toll this year remains lower than last year. "The decline in coalition fatalities can be attributed to a number of factors, not the least of which is the hard work and sacrifices of coalition forces over the past year to clear and hold former Taliban strongholds, the weaponry we have taken out of the hands of the insurgents, the fact that the Taliban is on its back foot and not able to engage our forces to the degree they have in the past, and the increase in Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and their ability to take the lead in some operations," ISAF spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Colette Murphy said in mid-July when this year's toll hit 300.

Murphy added: "The ANSF is making gains in capability and capacity every day and are suffering its share of losses as they defend Afghanistan from insurgents."

The recent spike in coalition casualties have been the result of a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter which crashed in Wardak province earlier this month, killing 30 ISAF service members and 8 Afghans. It is believed the helicopter was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade.

But overall, most casualties are the result of a large number of small attacks, although insurgents have also carried out a number of high-profile attacks such as the recent assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother. The majority of the casualties are American, many whom are killed in the country's south, which is plagued by improvised explosive device (IED) attacks on troops and civilians.

There are currently more than 132,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and more than 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 10,000 American troops later this year, with another 23,000 U.S. troops to return home next year.

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