British deaths in Afghanistan overtake Iraq toll

The number of British lives lost to enemy fire in Afghanistan has overtaken the military death toll during the six-year campaign in Iraq. Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, 19, became the 137th UK serviceman to die from hostile fire in Afghanistan, while deaths from enemy action in Iraq, where Britain ended its combat operations last month, stand at 136. John Hutton, the Defense Secretary, warned that casualties in Afghanistan would increase. The total number of UK servicemen and women to have died in Iraq, including those who died of natural causes, accidents and suicide, remains higher than in Afghanistan–at 179, compared with 166. The rise in fatalities in Afghanistan coincides with more frequent attacks by the Taliban. The steady drip of casualties continues to undermine the optimistic words uttered by John Reid when he was Defense Secretary. On a visit to Kabul in 2006, as 3,300 British troops were deploying to Helmand province, he emphasized that their main role was to help reconstruction efforts. He said that the soldiers were equipped to act robustly if attacked by the Taliban. However, he added: "We would be perfectly happy to leave in three years and without firing one shot." Three years on, there is no sign of the mission ending. There are predictions that Operation Herrick, the codename for the campaign, could continue for another 15 years. Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said coalition forces were facing a "resurgent Taliban". He also noted a 55 percent rise in coalition deaths compared with a year ago.