Deadly raid on U.S. military base raises doubts

Attacks up 40 percent over last year
The number of attacks in eastern Afghanistan have gone up 40 percent compared to last year, U.S. military officials say.

"We put that down to the fact that many insurgents are able to move pretty freely across the border and obviously we need to minimize that as far as we can," Laity said.

The Afghan government on Monday accused Pakistan's army and its intelligence service of supporting the insurgency, saying it suspended a series of bilateral meetings planned for coming weeks. Pakistan, which formally supported the Taliban before the 9/11 attack on the U.S., denies the allegations.

Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June.

U.S. officials are considering withdrawing additional forces from Iraq in coming months, in part because of the need for additional troops in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have said they need at least three more brigades in Afghanistan, or more than 10,000 soldiers.

More than 2,500 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

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