Four US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan today, military officials said, making July the deadliest month of the war for American forces.
In the south, a British Tornado fighter jet crashed at a major Nato base. Both crew members escaped serious injury but it was the third aircraft incident in as many days as foreign forces press ahead with new offensives against the Taliban.
With military casualties rising, Afghanistan's growing insurgency is also taking a heavy toll on civilians. In the remote west, 12 Afghan traders were killed when their van hit a roadside bomb most likely meant for Afghan or foreign troops.
US commanders have warned of a spike in casualties after thousands of US Marines and British soldiers launched major new offensives in the Taliban heartland of Helmand this month.
The offensives are the first major operation under US President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and its militant Islamist allies in the region and stabilise Afghanistan.
At least 27 US soldiers have been killed in combat so far in July, according to US military figures, more than in any other month of the eight-year-old war. The previous highest monthly total was 26 killed in September last year.
Highly destructive home-made bombs planted in the road are by far the most deadly weapons used by the Taliban and other insurgents, frequently killing civilians as well as the security forces they traditionally target.
The blast that killed 12 Afghan traders happened on a dirt road that links two districts in Farah province, where Taliban insurgents usually plant roadside bombs to target convoys of foreign and government troops.
About 800 civilians were killed in Afghanistan between January and May, a 24 per cent increase from the same period in 2008, according to UN figures released last month.
Reuters