Amputees, injured US troops rising in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - A military hospital here is coping with a dramatic increase in amputees and other seriously injured American troops being flown back from battlefronts in Afghanistan, according to a media report.
More than 1,000 American troops have been wounded in battle over the past three months in the war-torn country, accounting for one-fourth of those injured in combat since the US-led invasion in 2001, The Washington Post said Saturday, noting that October marks the deadliest month for US military.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates has become concerned about the rising number of wounded and has ordered thousands of additional support troops to Afghanistan to look for, and minimise, the roadside bombs, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says.
Expanded military operations, a near-doubling of the number of troops since the beginning of the year and a Taliban offensive that has included a proliferation of roadside bombings have led to the great increase in casualties, The Post reports.
The US troops in Afghanistan are suffering wounds at a higher rate than those who were serving in Iraq when violence spiralled during the military “surge” two years ago, the report said. In mid-2007, 600 US troops were wounded in Iraq each month out of about 150,000 troops deployed there. In Afghanistan, about 68,000 troops are currently installed, with about 350 wounded each month recently.
The Pentagon press secretary acknowledged that the casualties in Afghanistan had surpassed Iraq surge proportions and noted that the violence in Afghanistan was directed more against US and other coalition forces, whereas it was heavily sectarian in Iraq. “It shows you how we are the targets and how effectively they are targeting us,” Morrell commented.