June 2010 was already the deadliest month yet in the nearly nine year long Afghan War, having passed the record earlier this week with a string of deadly attacks. The toll is continuing to rise, however, with at least six additional NATO soldiers slain across Afghanistan today.
The latest deaths, which included a pair of Canadian medics killed in an IED attack just outside of Kandahar, brings the overall toll for the month of June to 86, with several more days still to go.
By comparison, the toll in June 2009 was only 38 NATO soldiers, and the death toll doubled in July 2009 to 76. So far every month in 2010 has been precipitously worse than the same month in 2009, in many cases more than double.
Death tolls in Afghanistan generally start to rise with the start of summer, and continue until the first snowfall renders much of the nation’s road system impassable for the rest of the year. If the historical trends continue hundreds of additional NATO soldiers can be expected to die in the next few months.
Sad indeed, but what else could invaders expect?