U.S. deaths in Afghanistan drop sharply

Iraq violence falling
Eleven U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in November 2007, meaning the year-on-year drop is also significant.

The U.S. still has about 150,000 troops in Iraq, but violence there has fallen off dramatically in recent months. Over the past six months it has become more dangerous to serve in Afghanistan, where the death rate among U.S. troops has been higher than in Iraq.

A near-record 32,000 American forces are deployed in Afghanistan.

Despite the vastly greater number of Americans deployed in Iraq, in two months this year more U.S. forces died in Afghanistan than Iraq. In July, 20 U.S. forces died in Afghanistan; 16 died in Iraq. In September, 16 died in Afghanistan; 14 died in Iraq.

Sixteen U.S. troops died in Iraq last month.

O'Hara said the military mourns every death and that the number of casualties is not a measure of effectiveness for the military.

"Our measures of effectiveness are increased security, increases in development, increases in people's attitudes toward their own well being," said O'Hara. "And certainly we're always adjusting our tactics based on what we see on the battlefield and what we are able to learn through intelligence about the insurgents."

Insurgency more 'virulent'
The commander of NATO, Gen. John Craddock, said last week that the Taliban insurgency was growing more "virulent," saying violence jumped by 40 percent this year. Last year 111 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan, meaning deaths this year will likely have increased between 30 percent and 40 percent by the end of the year.

More than 5,900 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

On Monday, a suicide bomber apparently trying to target Afghan police blew himself up in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan, killing eight civilians and two policemen, said Helmand provincial police chief Asadullah Sherzad.

In Kabul on Sunday, a suicide bomber attacked a German Embassy vehicle, killing two Afghan civilians.

Civilian casualties
Taliban and other militant suicide bombers frequently target Afghan and international military forces in their suicide attacks, but many more Afghan civilians typically die in the attacks than do government officials or military personnel.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Elsewhere on Monday, gunmen on a motorbike killed a district chief in central Afghanistan, a provincial spokesman said.

It was not clear who was responsible, but Taliban militants regularly assassinate government officials in their attempt to weaken the grip of President Hamid Karzai's administration in the provinces.

More on Taliban | NATO

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