US military death toll in Afghanistan reaches 2,000
The US military suffered its 2,000th death in the Afghan war - with a suspected "insider" attack at a checkpoint in the east of the country, BBC reported yesterday.
A Nato soldier and a civilian contractor have been killed in a suspected insider attack in eastern Afghanistan, the latest in a series described by a top US general as "the signature attack" of the Afghan war, reported AFP.
The assault on Saturday night also resulted in Afghan army casualties, Nato's International Security Assistance Force yesterday said, without providing further details.
Attacks by rogue elements in the Afghan security forces sharply increased this year, prompting the coalition to suspend joint operations this month.
Requests for joint operations must now be approved by regional commanders.
The American death toll goes back to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The new deaths occurred on Saturday in Wardak province, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said.
The incident took place at a checkpoint near an Afghan National Army base in the district of Sayedabad, according to Afghan officials.
A senior Nato commander says that 80 percent of Afghanistan is free of violence but warned an insurgency still rages in the south and east, fuelled by fighters coming from neighbouring Pakistan.
"About 80 percent of Afghan territory and the Afghan population is not affected by security problems or violence," Lieutenant General Olivier de Bavinchove told AFP in an interview.
"On the other hand, there is a huge contrast when it comes to security between the different regions and districts," said Bavinchove, Chief of Staff of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
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