Violence continues apace as NATO troops appear mired in the most violent Afghan summer yet in the nearly nine year long war. Since Tuesday morning 12 NATO soldiers, including eight Americans have been killed in a series of Taliban attacks.

Four US sodiers were killed in a bombing, one in a gunfight, and three others in an attempt to capture a police base in Kandahar Province, an attack which involved a car bomb and a number of rockets fired at the base.

The remaining four NATO soldiers were all British and include the three killed Tuesday morning by what is being called a “rogue Afghan soldier,” who promptly escaped and remains on the run.

The deaths bring NATO’s toll for July up to 46, and with more than half of the month to go it looks as though it should be the 13th consecutive month in which the death toll was the worst on record for its month. Last month saw 103 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the worst month overall since the war began.

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