US Afghan war fatalities hit new high

The United States Defense Department has raised the number of the military's fatalities from the Washington-led Afghan war in August to 69.

Two Army sergeants died in a bomb explosion in Helmand Province in the south of Afghanistan on August 25, while a third trooper died after his vehicle turned over in the other southern province of Kandahar on August 28, the Pentagon announced on Thursday, AFP reported.

66 American troops had already lost their lives in Afghanistan in August, making it the deadliest month for the US forces since Washington led its allied states in the invasion of the violence-hit country in 2001.

Nearly half of the total died on August 6, when the Taliban shot down a helicopter belonging to the US-led military alliance of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the east of the country. The fatalities from the incident were mostly elite Navy SEALs.

According to a tally kept by the US military, at least 1,643 troops have died in the war. The independentIcasualties.org website, however, has put the number of at over 1,750.

Thousands of Afghan civilians have also died during the invasion.

The Taliban insurgency has, however, intensified over the past years, despite the US and NATO forces' expanding presence in Afghanistan.