WASHINGTON--Total foreign military deaths in Afghanistan have passed 2,000 since the war began in late 2001, unofficial tallies showed on Sunday, in the approach to US and Afghan elections and a US strategy review. The US military accounted for more than 60 per cent of the deaths but the total still lags the list of Afghan civilian casualties, which a UN report last week showed had risen sharply despite a drop in the number blamed on foreign troops. The deaths of at least one more US service member, an Australian and a Briton announced in the past two days have pushed the total of foreign military deaths to 2,002 since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001 by a US-led coalition. The total is less than half that suffered during the seven years of the Iraq war but is a significant milestone nonetheless, with NATO allies like the Netherlands pulling out of the alliance and others reviewing their future roles. President Barack Obama has promised a strategy review in December after November mid-term Congressional elections where his Democrats face a backlash from an increasingly skeptical public. Afghans also face parliamentary elections on September 18. A presidential ballot a year ago was marred by fraud. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is under pressure to show independence from his Western backers and this week asked Obama for a review of how the war is being conducted. Violence has hit its worst levels since the Taliban were toppled despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, with the insurgency spilling out of Taliban strongholds in the south and east into the north and west. US Army General David Petraeus, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said on Sunday he saw areas of progress but meeting Obama's goal of starting to withdraw troops by July 2011 would depend on conditions at the time. He described the battle against the Taliban as an "up and down process" and said it was premature to assess its success. "What we have are areas of progress. We've got to link those together, extend them," Petraeus said in an interview aired on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" programme. Petraeus, who replaced the sacked General Stanley McChrystal in June, said he would give his "best professional military advice" to Obama about the withdrawal timetable.
