THE MANTES POST

Lethal bombing attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday made October the deadliest month for American forces since the war began in 2001, a Pentagon official said.

Improvised explosives claimed the lives of eight American soldiers and an Afghan civilian a day after 14 American soldiers and narcotics agents were killed in two separate helicopter crashes.

The deaths brought the number of Americans killed to at least 53 for the month, according to the independent website icasualties.org, compared to 51 killed in August.

A Pentagon official said it was the worst month for American troops since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Tuesday’s deaths raised the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 445, according to an AFP tally based on icasualties.org. Of those, 277 were Americans.

NATO said the bombings on Tuesday were “multiple complex IED attacks,” referring to improvised explosive devices that have become the scourge of NATO-led troops fighting Islamist insurgents.

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