2010 By Far the Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan

One American killed every 18 hours

By Edwin Mora
CNSNews.com
December 31, 2010

A transfer case with the remains of Pfc. Jacob A. Gassen arrives at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Dec. 1, 2010 (Photo credit: Steve Ruark / AP)

With 496 casualties, 2010 was by far the deadliest year for U.S. troops fighting a war in Afghanistan that has now entered its tenth year, according to casualty reports issued by the Department of Defense and tracked in a comprehensive database of war casualties maintained by CNSNews.com. …

Almost 17 times as many U.S. troops were killed in the Afghanistan war in 2010 as were killed in 2002, the first full calendar year of the war. In the past year, U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan were killed at a rate of about one every 18 hours.

Thus far, 1,357 U.S. armed services personnel have lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan. The year-by-year casualty count is as follows:

Year       Casualties

2001                5
2002                30
2003                31
2004                49
2005                94
2006                87
2007                111
2008                151
2009                303
2010                496

Of these 1,357 casualties, 1,344 were U.S. service personnel who died from fatal wounds received in Afghanistan or from accidents that occurred there during the war. The other 13 Afghanistan war casualties include one person who was killed in the Arabian Gulf in 2010 while supporting military operations in Afghanistan and 12 who were killed in Pakistan (2 in 2001, 7 in 2002 and 3 in 2010) while supporting military action in Afghanistan.

Of the 496 U.S. casualties in the Afghanistan war in 2010, 469 were combat-related deaths. …

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Related reports on this site

In this Oct. 29, 2009 file picture, President Barack Obama, right, salutes as a carry team walks with the transfer case containing theremains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., who died in Afghanistan according to the Department of Defense, during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. (Photo credit: Susan Walsh / AP File)

Screaming Eagles’ Year of Sacrifice (Dec 27, 2010)

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Video

2011: What will happen with Afghan war? (MSNBC, Dec. 29, 2010) — At least 10 Afghan civilians were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb struck minibus at a crowded intersection in Afghanistan. NBC’s Ali Arouzi reports. National Journal correspondent Yochi Dreazen joins Norah O’Donnell on “Andrea Mitchell Reports” to discuss what’s ahead for U.S. and the region. (05:17)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — January 1, 2010

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan Double in 2009

One year ago today, I reported that U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan doubled in 2009 compared with the previous year. A tally by The Associated Press showed 304 American service members died in 2009, up from 151 in 2008. In contrast, U.S. deaths in Iraq dropped by half as troops largely remained on bases and the United States started preparing to withdraw from that country by the end of 2011. In other news, the Pakistani Taliban claimed they used a turncoat CIA operative to carry out a suicide bombing that killed seven American CIA employees in Afghanistan as revenge for the death of former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. missile strike in August 2009 and a suicide bomber blew himself up in an SUV at an outdoor volleyball tournament in northwest Pakistan, killing nearly 100 people in a village opposed to the Taliban.

Residents of Shah Hassan Khail, Pakistan, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2009 search the rubble of several dozen homes destroyed in the suicide blast the previous day that killed at least 96 people. (Photo credit: Ijaz Muhammad / AP)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — January 1, 2009

2008: Reversal of Fortune

Two years ago today, on Jan. 1, 2009 I reported that U.S. military deaths in Iraq plummeted by two-thirds in 2008 from the previous year, while the war in Afghanistan saw American military deaths rise by 35 percent in 2008 as Islamic extremists shifted their focus to a new front with the West.

U.S. soldiers dance during a New Year celebration at their camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008. (Photo credit: Musadeq Sadeq / AP)