Land mine claims G.I., raising toll in Afghanistan to 200 since 2001

KABUL, Afghanistan — An American soldier who stepped on a land mine became the 200th U.S. military member to be killed in and around Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted four years ago, officials reported Saturday.

This year has been the deadliest yet for the 21,000-strong U.S.-led coalition force, with 84 soldiers killed. The toll comes amid a major increase in insurgent violence that has left more than 1,300 people dead since March.

The latest American death came Friday while U.S. troops patrolled in a part of Helmand province that has been wracked by violence by Taliban-led rebels, a military statement said.

A spokeswoman, Sgt. Marina Evans, said it was not immediately clear whether the mine had been recently laid — and was meant as an attack on the patrol — or whether it was one of thousands around the country left from a quarter-century of war.

The soldier's name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The statement quoted Brig. Gen. Jack Sterling, a deputy commander of the U.S.-led coalition, as saying, "Its a sad day any time a comrade dies in this ongoing struggle."

"While we mourn this loss, we will continue to work to ensure that Afghanistan remains a stable democracy," he added.

According to Pentagon figures, 200 U.S. personnel have died in the Afghanistan region since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001, when it refused to turn over Osama bin Laden and stop offering haven to al-Qaida camps following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

"Two hundred lives is a very big price to pay for a cause that we both share. ... We value the sacrifice they made for the people of Afghanistan and the people of the United States," President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff, Jawed Ludin, told The Associated Press in an interview last week when asked about the approaching toll.

"But one thing that we can be sure is: Those lives have not been lost in vain," Ludin said.

But Karzai himself has been critical of the U.S. military lately, challenging the need for major military operations by foreign troops, saying there was no longer a major terrorist threat in Afghanistan.

His comments followed landmark legislative elections held relatively peacefully despite Taliban threats of violence.