Cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace
On Friday morning five British troops died in double blasts as they patrolled south of the town. The tactic that killed them is simple: a first bomb to immobilise the target, a second to destroy them. Perfected in Iraq by al-Qaida, the Taliban are now making it their own. The insurgents know better than to fight the massive power deployed for set-piece operations like that under way a hundred or so miles to the south of Sangin, with its hundreds of helicopters and thousands of US marines. They wait, weeks and months, and then strike. Time, after all, is on their side.
The death toll of British troops in southern Afghanistan rose to 184 last week as a switch of military strategy brought more bloodshed. But as it grows more difficult to distinguish friend from foe, many soldiers and their families question if victory is even possible.
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