Afghan deaths hit highest-ever totals

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 2 (UPI) -- Coalition deaths in Afghanistan reached their highest-ever monthly totals in June as U.S. military officials warned they face a more complex insurgency.

With 46 U.S. and NATO soldiers killed in June, a U.S. Defense Department report quoted by The New York Times paints a stark picture of a budding Afghan insurgency that has taken on new forms even as the government of President Hamid Karzai has been unable to extend its writ into the country's restive hinterlands.

The report, released last week, cites intelligence about an increasingly complex enemy that has branched out into two main parts. The first is the Taliban-led insurgency based in the southern city of Kandahar, while a newer confederation of militant groups in eastern Afghanistan is also becoming more active, the Times said.

About 32,000 U.S. troops are deployed inside Afghanistan, up from 25,000 in 2005, and the Pentagon is considering sending an additional 7,000 troops to help deal with the worsening violence, the newspaper reported.