US military deaths in Afghanistan reach 2,000

The killing of an American serviceman in an exchange of fire with allied Afghan soldiers pushed US military deaths in the war to 2,000, a cold reminder of the perils that remain after an 11-year conflict that now garners little public interest at home.

The toll has climbed steadily in recent months with a spate of attacks by Afghan army and police – supposed allies – against American and Nato troops. That has raised troubling questions about whether countries in the US-led coalition in Afghanistan will achieve their aim of helping the government in Kabul and its forces stand on their own after most foreign troops depart in little more than two years.

“The tally is modest by the standards of war historically, but every fatality is a tragedy and 11 years is too long,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “All that is internalised, however, in an American public that has been watching this campaign for a long time. More newsworthy right now are the insider attacks and the sense of hopelessness they convey to many. “

Attacks by Afghan soldiers or police – or insurgents disguised in their uniforms – have killed 52 American and other Nato troops so far this year.

“We have to get on top of this. It is a very serious threat to the campaign,” the US military’s top officer, Army General Martin Dempsey, said about the insider threat.

The top commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, was more blunt.