Forces' combat deaths worst since Falklands
By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE and ANDREW WILKS
9th September 2006
Not since the Falklands War of 1982 have British casualties been so high
Combat deaths among British Forces this year are on course to reach levels not seen since the bloodiest periods of the Troubles in Northern Ireland or the Falklands War.
So far 55 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the highest toll since the war against Argentina 24 years ago when 255 British soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed in the space of just two months.
And as the casualty figures rise almost daily in both war zones, it is feared they could soon exceed the 80 deaths of British troops in Ulster in the first nine months of 1972.
That was at the height of the IRA's armed struggle and followed the deaths of 14 civilians shot by Paras in the Bloody Sunday massacre that January.
In the past week alone, 20 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll this year to 36. A further 19 have died in Iraq, making a total of 55.
If the deaths continue at current levels, the number of fatalities could exceed the Ulster total of 106 for the whole of 1972.
Coalition forces in Afghanistan are suffering fatalities at twice the rate they did during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
British forces have only been on active duty as part of a Nato force for just more than two months. So the death rate of UK troops in Afghanistan is 18 per month. The rate in Iraq is lower - just over two per month.
But based on these figures, the military could suffer more than 100 additional deaths in Afghanistan and at least six more in Iraq before the end of the year.
The latest fatality was a soldier, not yet named, from 58 Battery of 12 Regiment Royal Artillery. He died on Thursday from injuries sustained in a shooting in the town of Al Qurna two days earlier, despite being flown for emergency treatment to Germany.
British troops have been involved in some of their fiercest fighting for 50 years against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The newly-appointed head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, predicted last week that UK forces were likely to be in Afghanistan for up to ten years.
In 16 conflicts since the end of the Second World War, 3,520 British Service personnel have died.
The war in Afghanistan has also seen the first Canadian military deaths in active combat since 1953. Canada is second only to Britain in the number of troops it has sent to Afghanistan as part of ISAF.
dailymail.co.uk
By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE and ANDREW WILKS
9th September 2006
Not since the Falklands War of 1982 have British casualties been so high
Combat deaths among British Forces this year are on course to reach levels not seen since the bloodiest periods of the Troubles in Northern Ireland or the Falklands War.
So far 55 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the highest toll since the war against Argentina 24 years ago when 255 British soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed in the space of just two months.
And as the casualty figures rise almost daily in both war zones, it is feared they could soon exceed the 80 deaths of British troops in Ulster in the first nine months of 1972.
That was at the height of the IRA's armed struggle and followed the deaths of 14 civilians shot by Paras in the Bloody Sunday massacre that January.
In the past week alone, 20 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll this year to 36. A further 19 have died in Iraq, making a total of 55.
If the deaths continue at current levels, the number of fatalities could exceed the Ulster total of 106 for the whole of 1972.
Coalition forces in Afghanistan are suffering fatalities at twice the rate they did during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
British forces have only been on active duty as part of a Nato force for just more than two months. So the death rate of UK troops in Afghanistan is 18 per month. The rate in Iraq is lower - just over two per month.
But based on these figures, the military could suffer more than 100 additional deaths in Afghanistan and at least six more in Iraq before the end of the year.
The latest fatality was a soldier, not yet named, from 58 Battery of 12 Regiment Royal Artillery. He died on Thursday from injuries sustained in a shooting in the town of Al Qurna two days earlier, despite being flown for emergency treatment to Germany.
British troops have been involved in some of their fiercest fighting for 50 years against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The newly-appointed head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, predicted last week that UK forces were likely to be in Afghanistan for up to ten years.
In 16 conflicts since the end of the Second World War, 3,520 British Service personnel have died.
The war in Afghanistan has also seen the first Canadian military deaths in active combat since 1953. Canada is second only to Britain in the number of troops it has sent to Afghanistan as part of ISAF.
dailymail.co.uk