2,000th US Soldier Killed in ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’

Grim Milestone as Marine Corporal Killed in Helmand

The occupation of Afghanistan reached another grim milestone yesterday, when Marine Corporal Taylor Baune died in the Helmand Province, bringing the overall toll of Operation Enduring Freedom to 2,000 American soldiers killed.

The label Operation Enduring Freedom covers not only the occupation of Afghanistan put also the war in several other countries since 2001, though it excludes the occupation of Iraq, which saw nearly 4,500 US soldiers killed as well in that span.

All told, Operation Enduring Freedom has seen over 3,000 NATO soldiers killed, with the vast majority Americans. Britain and Canada are the only two other member nations to have lost over 100 soldiers in the war so far.

Though officially the NATO occupation is scheduled to end at the end of 2014, US officials have signed a deal to keep US troops on the ground through at least 2024. The exact number of troops that will be in the country as of 2015 has yet to be announced.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.