June deadliest month for troops in Afghan war

by Karim Talbi Karim Talbi – Thu Jun 24,

KABUL (AFP) – The deaths of another four NATO troops in an accident in Afghanistan made June the deadliest single month for US-led foreign forces in the nearly nine-year conflict, according to an AFP tally Thursday.

The grim landmark followed the sacking of NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, which was greeted with dismay in Kabul where Afghan officials and foreign diplomats praised his bold efforts to reshape the war.

The four troops died as a result of a vehicle accident in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the NATO-run International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that gave no further details.

The new deaths bring to 79 the number of foreign troops who have died as a result of the conflict in Afghanistan so far this month, according to an AFP tally based on statistics on the independent icasualties.org website.

The grim record eclipsed the previous most deadly month for NATO troops last August, when 77 soldiers were killed.

The US military has warned that casualties will inevitably mount as foreign forces build up their campaign to oust militants from the southern province of Kandahar, a hotbed of bombings, assassinations and lawlessness.

Much of southern Afghanistan is blighted by the Taliban insurgency, now in its deadliest phase since the US-led invasion ousted the hardline Islamist regime and installed a Western-backed administration led by Hamid Karzai.

So far 299 NATO troops have died this year, according to AFP tallies based on the independent icasualties.org website. Last year, 520 NATO troops died -- their deadliest annual total yet.

McChrystal's counter-insurgency strategy, which brought sweeping changes aimed at cutting civilian casualties and winning over the population, had been credited with bringing some order to the chaotic and spiralling conflict.

Karzai's government publicly urged the White House not to remove McChrystal over disparaging remarks he made about officials in US President Barack Obama's administration in a magazine profile.

A spokesman for Karzai -- whose relations with the White House have been troubled -- praised McChrystal and said his removal would "not be helpful" at this critical juncture.

But the Afghan government later said it respected Obama's decision and welcomed the appointment of David Petraeus, the general credited with changing the direction of the Iraq conflict, to succeed McChrystal.

The removal of McChrystal, a brilliant former special operations chief who was appointed commander in June last year of what has become America's longest war, also brought an uncertain reaction from the diplomatic community.

NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan Mark Sedwill called McChrystal "one of the finest men I have ever known" who "was pivotal in creating and driving forward NATO's strategy in Afghanistan".

McChrystal's strategy poured tens of thousands of extra troops into Afghanistan to win over civilians and train local forces.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrestnatotoll