2 American, 2 British troops killed in Afghanistan
KABUL: Bombs killed four NATO troops Monday - two Americans and
replica watches two Britons - ending the
deadliest month of the war for US forces as the top NATO commander called for a new strategy to confront the Taliban.
The US military said the two Americans were killed in separate explosions in southern Afghanistan but gave no further details. Their deaths brought to 47 the number of US troops
who have died in the Afghan war in August - three more than in July which had been the deadliest month.
In London, the British Ministry of Defense said the two British soldiers were killed by a bomb on a foot patrol north of Lashkar Gah, a southern Afghan city where Prime Minister
Gordon Brown paid a surprise visit last weekend and promised help for his embattled force.
US casualties have been mounting since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 more
IWC watches American troops to Afghanistan,
shifting the focus of the war on Islamic extremism from Iraq to this country where the global conflict began nearly eight years ago.
Since the reinforcements began arriving last spring, American deaths have climbed from six in April to 12 in May, 24 in June to more than 40 for the next two months as US troops
push into areas of the country long under Taliban rule.
The latest casualties occurred as the top US and NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent his much-anticipated strategic review of the Afghan war to the Pentagon and NATO
headquarters.
"The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and
Omega watches demands a revised implementation strategy,
commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," McChrystal said in a statement Monday.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the 60-day review to size up the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
McChrystal did not ask for more troops but is expected to do so in a separate request in a couple weeks, two NATO officials said on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
The US already has about 62,000 troops in Afghanistan - a record number - and will have 68,000 by the end of the year. In total there are more than 100,000 US and NATO troops in
the country. There were roughly 250,000 international forces in Iraq during the 2003 invasion.
US officials had hoped that the August 20 presidential election would establish an
Baume Mercier watches Afghan
government with the legitimacy to combat the Taliban, corruption and the flourishing drug trade.