The fact that more US troops are going out on foot patrols instead of in armored vehicles has led to a rise in injuries that are leading to multiple limb losses and amputations of arms and legs.

Such devastating injuries are also giving rise to talk on the battlefield that some troops have made secret pacts not to help each other survive if they are severely injured. According to a new report released on Tuesday there has been a dramatic increase in the number of severe injuries among US troops in Afghanistan - including those who have had multiple limbs amputated.

As Associated Press reports, the number of US troops who had amputations rose sharply from 86 in 2009, to 187 in 2010 and 147 so far this year, military officials said on Tuesday, releasing the report on catastrophic wounds. It added that the number of troops who lost two or three limbs rose from 23 in 2009 to 72 last year to 77 so far this year. Only a dozen or so of all amputations came from Iraq and the rest were from Afghanistan, where militants are pressing the insurgency with roadside bombs and handmade land mines.

Officials said genital injuries have also risen significantly, but they did not give specific figures. The soldier on foot is much more likely to suffer severe injuries, Tuesday's report noted, "and the injury severity (in Afghanistan) confirms this."

Fewer soldiers killed in action

US Military doctors told a Pentagon news conference that their study found that while the severity of injuries was going up, the rates of those killed in action was going down.

The report which was completed in June, was ordered early this year by the Army surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, to look into the causes of the steep increase in severe injuries, prevention, protection, treatment and long-term care for the troops.

Officials said they were not looking just at saving lives, but also saving lifestyles."These are life-defining injuries for these warriors and their families, but it is not desperate" said Brig. Gen. Joseph Caravalho Jr., an army doctor and head of the study. He added, "It's not just about saving lives, it's about doing everything military medicine can do to help them lead full and productive lives."

The task force also looked into what the doctors called 'dismounted complex blast injuries.' This involves amputation of at least one leg, severe injury or loss of a second extremity and wounding of the pelvis, abdomen or urinary tract and genitals.

This year two military doctors have said publicly that they had heard talk among young Marines that some did not want to continue living and had made such agreements for cases in which they might sustain loss of their genitals. But this was not confirmed by any doctor who knew that such incident had actually occured.

Author: Marina Joarder (AP)
Editor: Grahame Lucas