137 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan since the first of the year, making the first five months of 2010 the deadliest January-through-May period of any year of the almost nine-year-long war.

By Edwin Mora at CNSNews.com

The 137 casualties so far this year more than double the 59 that occurred last year from January through May. Thus far, 2009 has been the deadliest year of the war, but the high current casualty count for this year, and the heavy fighting anticipated in Kandahar this summer, put 2010 on track to be even deadlier.

As of May 28, 998 U.S. military personnel had died since the beginning of the war in late 2001, according to CNSNews.com’s database of casualties. 847 of those deaths have been combat-related.

Thirty-nine percent (386) of the 998 casualties have taken place since May 15, 2009, the day when the first major wave of new troops ordered by President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan.

Combat-related casualties are those that result from wounds caused by enemy action. Non-combat-related casualties are deaths to military personnel deployed in the Afghanistan war that are the result of accidents or illnesses. Fatal accidents in the war have have included, for example, drownings and vehicle and aircraft accidents.

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