We are just four days into the new year and already Britain has suffered its first military fatality of 2010 in Afghanistan.
A soldier from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died while patrolling in the Nad-e Ali area, in Helmand Province. It takes the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan so far to 246.
108 British troops died in Afghanistan last year, their bloodies year since 1982, and that number will probably be greater this year.
Four American soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb. The US suffered 304 fatalities last year.
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Soldier blown up on foot patrol in Afghanistan becomes first British casualty of 2010
04th January 2010
Daily Mail
A British soldier killed while patrolling in Afghanistan has become the first to die in the country in 2010.
The Ministry of Defence said the soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died while patrolling in the Nad-e Ali area, in Helmand Province.
His next of kin have been informed.
News of the soldiers death will spark fears that 2010 will be even more gruelling for troops serving in the country that last year.
Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said: 'His dauntless courage and his sacrifice will not be forgotten.'
British soldiers shelling suspected Taliban positions in Helmand province, Afghanistan
His death takes the number of British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001 to 246.
It is also the second loss suffered by the Royal Anglian Regiment in recent weeks.
Lance Corporal Adam Drane, 23, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was shot dead in Helmand Province in December.
Last year was the bloodiest for British forces since the Falklands War in 1982 with 108 British soldiers dying while serving in Afghanistan.
Eslewhere in Afghanistan, a roadside bombing killed four U.S. service members.
The explosion took place Sunday in the south, according to Nato's International Security Assistance Force.
Afghan insurgents are increasingly turning to improvised explosive devices in their fight against Afghan and international forces.
Of the 304 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan last year, 129 were caused by IEDs.
Enlarge
French soldiers of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT) of the Kandak (Battalion) 32 catch their breath during the climb to an observation post. Maybe they went there to plant a white flag on it
The deaths are the first U.S. fatalities from hostile action in Afghanistan this year.
One U.S. service member died of noncombat causes so far in 2010.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said its soldiers killed 10 Taliban fighters in battles on Sunday in northern Kunduz province's Imam Sahib district, which borders Tajikistan. One soldier was wounded in the clash.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered parliament to postpone its winter recess until a new list of Cabinet nominees is announced, following last week's stinging rejection of most of his choices.
The rejection by lawmakers of 17 of 24 nominees was a surprising slap and an obstacle to Karzai getting his second term in office into full operation and focusing on badly needed reforms.
Karzai's credibility both at home and abroad was shaken by the fraud-plagued presidential elections in August.
In the vote on the Cabinet nominees on Saturday, lawmakers rejected nominees viewed as Karzai's political cronies, those believed to be under the influence of warlords and others deemed unqualified.
A French soldier climbs to the observation post, 'the eagle nest' in the Alah Say valley in Kapisa province
The parliament did approve his retention of incumbents in the key portfolios of defense, interior and finance.
The order, under a constitutional provision that allows the president to call extraordinary sessions of parliament, states that Karzai will introduce a new slate of Cabinet nominees within a few days.
Karzai clearly hopes to have a full government in place before the Jan. 28 international conference in London on Afghanistan.
Also today, Nato said a joint Afghan-international force discovered a huge cache of marijuana and turned it over to police for destruction. Nato said the cache contained up to 28,000 cubic feet of marijuana.
As the U.S. and other Western nations have tried to help Afghanistan stamp out its poppy fields - the country is the world's leading opium producer - an increasing number of farmers have turned to marijuana, which is receiving less attention from authorities.
The Interior Ministry said 256lbs of heroin were seized Sunday in an operation in Badakhshan province, and 4,100lbs of opium were incinerated on Sunday in Helmand province in a joint operation of counternarcotics police and U.S. Marines.
dailymail.co.uk
A soldier from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died while patrolling in the Nad-e Ali area, in Helmand Province. It takes the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan so far to 246.
108 British troops died in Afghanistan last year, their bloodies year since 1982, and that number will probably be greater this year.
Four American soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb. The US suffered 304 fatalities last year.
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Soldier blown up on foot patrol in Afghanistan becomes first British casualty of 2010
04th January 2010
Daily Mail
A British soldier killed while patrolling in Afghanistan has become the first to die in the country in 2010.
The Ministry of Defence said the soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died while patrolling in the Nad-e Ali area, in Helmand Province.
His next of kin have been informed.
News of the soldiers death will spark fears that 2010 will be even more gruelling for troops serving in the country that last year.
Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said: 'His dauntless courage and his sacrifice will not be forgotten.'
British soldiers shelling suspected Taliban positions in Helmand province, Afghanistan
His death takes the number of British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001 to 246.
It is also the second loss suffered by the Royal Anglian Regiment in recent weeks.
Lance Corporal Adam Drane, 23, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was shot dead in Helmand Province in December.
Last year was the bloodiest for British forces since the Falklands War in 1982 with 108 British soldiers dying while serving in Afghanistan.
Eslewhere in Afghanistan, a roadside bombing killed four U.S. service members.
The explosion took place Sunday in the south, according to Nato's International Security Assistance Force.
Afghan insurgents are increasingly turning to improvised explosive devices in their fight against Afghan and international forces.
Of the 304 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan last year, 129 were caused by IEDs.
Enlarge
French soldiers of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT) of the Kandak (Battalion) 32 catch their breath during the climb to an observation post. Maybe they went there to plant a white flag on it
The deaths are the first U.S. fatalities from hostile action in Afghanistan this year.
One U.S. service member died of noncombat causes so far in 2010.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said its soldiers killed 10 Taliban fighters in battles on Sunday in northern Kunduz province's Imam Sahib district, which borders Tajikistan. One soldier was wounded in the clash.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered parliament to postpone its winter recess until a new list of Cabinet nominees is announced, following last week's stinging rejection of most of his choices.
The rejection by lawmakers of 17 of 24 nominees was a surprising slap and an obstacle to Karzai getting his second term in office into full operation and focusing on badly needed reforms.
Karzai's credibility both at home and abroad was shaken by the fraud-plagued presidential elections in August.
In the vote on the Cabinet nominees on Saturday, lawmakers rejected nominees viewed as Karzai's political cronies, those believed to be under the influence of warlords and others deemed unqualified.
A French soldier climbs to the observation post, 'the eagle nest' in the Alah Say valley in Kapisa province
The parliament did approve his retention of incumbents in the key portfolios of defense, interior and finance.
The order, under a constitutional provision that allows the president to call extraordinary sessions of parliament, states that Karzai will introduce a new slate of Cabinet nominees within a few days.
Karzai clearly hopes to have a full government in place before the Jan. 28 international conference in London on Afghanistan.
Also today, Nato said a joint Afghan-international force discovered a huge cache of marijuana and turned it over to police for destruction. Nato said the cache contained up to 28,000 cubic feet of marijuana.
As the U.S. and other Western nations have tried to help Afghanistan stamp out its poppy fields - the country is the world's leading opium producer - an increasing number of farmers have turned to marijuana, which is receiving less attention from authorities.
The Interior Ministry said 256lbs of heroin were seized Sunday in an operation in Badakhshan province, and 4,100lbs of opium were incinerated on Sunday in Helmand province in a joint operation of counternarcotics police and U.S. Marines.
dailymail.co.uk