WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- Attacks on international forces in Afghanistan are "obviously" going to increase as more personnel are sent to the country, Pentagon officials said.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash and a British soldier died in an explosion, NATO forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said Taliban fighters used a rocket-propelled grenade to shoot down the helicopter in the Sangin district.
CNN puts this month's death toll at 29 for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the increase in Taliban attacks is to be expected as additional troops are deployed in the region.
"There are more International Security Assistance Force forces (in Afghanistan) than at any other time, so the level of activity is high and I think as we conduct our operations and engage with the enemy, obviously the opportunities for hostile contact have gone up," he said.
The Defense Department said there are around 94,000 U.S. and 48,000 NATO forces operating in Afghanistan. U.S. troop numbers are set to grow to 98,000 by September.
U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander for U.S. and NATO forces, told the BBC, however, he was slowing the pace of operations planned for Kandahar province.
"It's more important we get it right than we get it fast," he said.
