Afghan troops are in the midst of their deadliest fighting season since the war here began 12 years ago.
That is because, as U.S.-led forces withdraw, the Afghans are fighting a different war.
The Taliban are growing more aggressive. Coalition forces, taking with them their superior training and equipment, are leaving Afghan troops less able to fight and less able to save the lives of their critically wounded.
The Afghan forces—including the army, national police and village self-defense police—have been losing well over 100 men a week to insurgent attacks, with close to 300 injured, through much of the summer, according to numbers provided by coalition officials.
By contrast, coalition fatalities, which are reported precisely, have fluctuated between 13 and 27 troops a month since heavier fighting resumed in the spring.
To put it in perspective: The Afghan forces' death toll is as much as three times the combined coalition and Afghan fatalities in 2010 and 2011, when the U.S. took its heaviest casualties in the war.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/21/afghan-troop-deaths-hit-record-amid-us-exit/#ixzz2fXygparY
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