29/06/2010 The toll of the occupation forces killed in Afghanistan this month hits 100. However these forces are achieving "progress" according to the new appointed US commander in the occupied country General David Patreaus.
In the deadliest month for occupation troops in Afghanistan, a total of 100 foreign occupation soldiers have been killed in June, intensifying concerns about the conduct of the war.
An announcement by the US Department of Defense of the death of a US soldier on June 24 in the strife-torn western province of Farah took the toll for the year to date to 320, compared with 520 in all of 2009, according to AFP tally based on the independent icasualties.org website.
But s spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said 81 international troops had been killed in combat so far in June.
The previous highest monthly toll was last August, at 77.
Although this expensive price the occupation troops are paying, Petraeus, touted signs "progress" in the Afghan war but warned of a "tough fight" ahead against Taliban militants.
The NATO-led force "has achieved progress in several locations" this year, including in the southern Helmand province, Petraeus told senators at a hearing on his nomination as the next commander.
"My sense is that the tough fighting will continue; indeed, it may get more intense in the next few months," he said.
"As we take away the enemy's safe havens and reduce the enemy's freedom of action, the insurgents will fight back."
US President Barack Obama called on Petraeus to take the helm in Kabul after sacking General Stanley McChrystal as commander last week.
McChrystal was forced to step down over a bombshell magazine article that quoted him and his staff disparaging the administration, including Obama himself, the US envoy to the region and the US ambassador.
Petraeus also vowed to forge close cooperation with his civilian counterparts in the administration.
"We are all firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort," Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Petraeus said there had been "security gains" over the past year in Afghanistan and credited McChrystal for reshaping the campaign.
PETRAEUS TO REVIEW WAR RULES
On other hand, Petraeus promised to review war rules in Afghanistan laid down by his successor McChrystal saying he was aware of soldiers' complaints over them. These rules, according to occupation troops, are widely perceived as too restrictive, playing into the hands of the Taliban, costing American lives.
Petraeus told senators he is "keenly aware of concerns by some of our troopers on the ground about the application of our rules of engagement and the tactical directive."
"They should know that I will look very hard at this issue," he told senators at a hearing on his nomination as commander.
"When our troopers and our Afghan partners are in a tough spot, it is a moral imperative that we use everything we have to make sure that they get out of it," the general said.
He said he had conveyed his view to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the defense and interior ministers in Kabul since he was nominated to the commander's post last week.
"They are in full agreement with me on it," he said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last week Petraeus would have flexibility as commander to review tactics in the Afghan mission.
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