Foreign troops’ death toll rising in Afghanistan

Medical personnel at the US-run Bagram military hospital in Afghanistan say there has been an increase in troop casualties and that they expect more in the coming days.

The medical staff of the facility located north of Kabul told AP that they were under enormous strain due to the incoming flow of dead and wounded soldiers.

The medics spoke of their experiences of the Sunday rocket attack on Bagram Air Field, which left four American soldiers dead and five others wounded.

The report comes as the situation has deteriorated in several southern and eastern provinces in recent months with militant attacks increasing in the volatile regions.

The US-led troops are said to have lost control over several districts across Afghanistan’s troubled south, including regions near the border with Pakistan.

NATO figures suggest that insurgency has skyrocketed in southern Afghanistan, where British and Danish troops are stationed.

Sources predict that 2009 will be the bloodiest year for foreign troops since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Top US Commander, General David Petraeus, says that forces stationed in Afghanistan will face “tough fighting” with Taliban militants well beyond 2009.

The troops continue to fall victim to the insurgency seven-and-a-half years after the US invaded Afghanistan to allegedly destroy Taliban and al-Qaeda, and bring stability to the country