More than 800 Afghan soldiers have been killed in the country's conflict with militants so far this year, more than any other since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, an army spokesman said Wednesday. "A total of 806 Afghan National Army soldiers have been martyred in 2010," Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi told reporters. Of those, 43 died in November, and 63 have been killed so far this month.
The toll was up more than 25 per cent from 632 fatalities for the whole of 2009, another ministry official said. This year has also been the bloodiest for foreign troops and Afghan civilians since the start of the war nine years ago with more than 700 Nato-led foreign troops and at least 2,400 civilians killed.
Five more civilians were killed during a clash in southern Afghanistan between foreign troops and suspected Taliban militants, officials said Wednesday. Nato was investigating the deaths while an Afghan general urged the alliance to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries located outside Afghanistan.
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