200 NATO Troops Die in Afghanistan This Year (Deadliest Jan mid-May of 9 Year War)

[tekisui]

Source: AFP

KABUL — The deaths of 200 NATO soldiers in 2010 marked the deadliest January to mid-May in the nearly nine-year Afghan war, as the Taliban fight escalates and the West pours thousands more troops into battle.

The grim milestone was recorded by an AFP tally based on the independent icasualties website, after a NATO convoy drove over a roadside bomb, killing two Italian soldiers in northwestern Afghanistan on Monday.

Two other Italians were seriously wounded, the Italian government said.

They were in a vehicle that was struck by a roadside bomb, the weapon of choice of Taliban-led insurgents fighting the Western-backed Afghan government and around 130,000 US-led foreign troops in the country.

Italy is currently the fifth largest contributor of troops to the NATO force in Afghanistan, with 3,300 troops in the International Security Assistance Force and heads the western regional command headquartered in Herat.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressed his condolences for the deaths but underscored his commitment to keeping troops in Afghanistan, where 23 Italian soldiers and one diplomat have died since the war began.

"The mission in Afghanistan to stabilise and pacify a strategic region is of fundamental importance" he said in a statement.

From January to end-May 2009, 119 NATO soldiers died in Afghanistan. Overall 520 NATO died in 2009, the deadliest year so far for US-led foreign troops since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.

more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j5seLmmVi0JtGHcElR0921QSHmJA

[notesdev]

1. What are we fighting for again?

Can anyone articulate a goal here?