Casualties
The increased intensity of operations has seen an increase in coalition casualties. Since the war began in 2001, the Canadian Forces have suffered 128 killed (as of Aug. 19, 2009), 38 of those in 2006. In 2006, 24 British soldiers and marines have been killed and a further one marine, one soldier and 12 airmen in a Royal Air Force Nimrod crash in Afghanistan. US military personnel have also been killed in support of NATO operations, 17 in 2006, as well as two Italians and one Romanian soldier. Operation Mountain Fury saw 71 Afghan National Army soldiers killed. A Dutch F-16 pilot also died in an air-crash.
Taliban killed in action are difficult to verify, but around 2,700 are estimated to have died during Operation Mountain Thrust, Operation Medusa and Operation Mountain Fury.
The increase in fighting in southern Afghanistan inevitably resulted in increased civilian casualties in the region.
Read more about this topic: Coalition Combat Operations In Afghanistan In 2006