WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- This year turns out to be the bloodiest year for US troops in Afghanistan since they invaded that country in 2001, as their enemy appears to grow fiercer, The USA Today reported Thursday.

    So far this year, 87 US soldiers have been killed in that country, nearly half of the 186 US military deaths since the invasion four years ago, according to the newspaper.

    On July 19 alone, 19 US soldiers were killed when insurgents shot down a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan.

    In comparison, only three US troops died in the first year of invasion, followed by 22 in 2002, 30 in 2003, and 44 last year.

    US forces in Afghanistan attributed the increased casualties tothe fact that they are encountering a fiercer and more organized adversary than last year, and one that is far from being near collapse as predicted by a US general in April.

    The commander and officers of the 1st Battalion of 3rd Special Forces Group, an elite US counterinsurgency unit known as the Desert Eagles, provided the assessment in a recent report.

    The report calls into question plans to replace most, if not all, US forces in the volatile southern Afghanistan next year withNATO troops that will not conduct the same aggressive counter insurgency operations.

    In April, US Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, then senior US commander in Afghanistan, predicted the insurgency would largely collapse within a year. However, his assessment seems to lose the grip of reality.

    Afghan officials also said fighting remains to be done. "Our concern is that whoever takes over those areas will have to engagein counterinsurgency," a spokesman of Afghan embassy in Washington,was quoted as saying.

    He said the insurgency has increased since last year and more terrorist attacks are expected. Enditem