US Deaths in Afghanistan Hit Record

More troops from the United States and coalition countries died in Afghanistan last month than at any other time since the 2001 invasion. For the second month in a row, deaths among American-led forces were higher in Afghanistan, where 46 servicemen died, than in Iraq, where 31 were killed. The greater death toll in Afghanistan comes despite a significantly increased NATO military presence there, reports the New York Times.

A new Pentagon report pessimistically claimed that the once-ragtag opposition to coalition forces has "coalesced into a resilient insurgency," one that the Afghan government can do little to suppress. About 32,000 American troops operate alongside 38,000 foreign servicemen in Afghanistan, but even that might not be enough: the Pentagon is considering a further deployment in what the senior commander there called an "under-resourced war." (More Afghanistan stories.)