The number of deaths in Afghanistan have reached an all time high. More Western servicemen killed than ever before, bucking the seasonal trends. Not good news. According to the MEC analytical group:
According to the latest quarterly report on the situation by the Secretary General of the UN on 16 June (http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N10/400/06/PDF/N1040006.pdf?OpenElement ):
Overall, the number of security incidents increased significantly, compared to previous years and contrary to seasonal trends. This is attributable to an increase in military operations in the southern region during the first quarter of 2010 and to significant anti-government element activities in the south-east and eastern regions of Afghanistan . . .
The majority of incidents continue to involve armed clashes and improvised explosive devices, each accounting for one third of the reported incidents. The rise in incidents involving improvised explosive devices constitutes an alarming trend, with the first four months of 2010 recording a 94 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2009. Suicide attacks occur at a rate of about three per week, half of which occur in the southern region. Complex suicide attacks are recorded at roughly two per month, higher than the average of one complex attack per month during 2009. . .The shift to more complex suicide attacks demonstrates a growing capability of the local terrorist networks linked to Al-Qaida Insurgents followed up their threats against the civilian population with, on average, seven assassinations every week, the majority of which were conducted in the south and south-east regions. This constitutes a 45 per cent increase, compared to the same period in 2009. In the south, high-profile assassinations of civil servants, clerics and elders in Kandahar City (including the Deputy Mayor and the head of the Agriculture Cooperative Department) are aimed at establishing control over the urban population.
