The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of more Western troops than the insurgency in Iraq for the first time in two consecutive months.

A total of 44 British and other Western troops were killed in Afghanistan fighting the Taleban and al-Qaeda in June, compared with 31 in Iraq, icasualties.org, the website that monitors casualties in both countries, reported. The figures are all the more striking because there are nearly three times as many Western troops deployed in Iraq.

The monthly Western death toll for Afghanistan narrowly surpassed that of Iraq for the first time in May. British troops suffered 13 losses in Helmand in June. It was the worst month for British forces since September 2006, when 19 were killed, including 14 aboard a Nimrod surveillance aircraft brought down by mechanical failure.

After visiting troops in southern Helmand, Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, told The Times: “Any loss of life is a great tragedy, and the service and heroism of British forces here in Afghanistan is truly outstanding. It is clear, however, that their sacrifice is not in vain since —as I have seen with my own eyes today in Garmser — real progress is being made in taking on the Taleban and making steps forward in reconciliation.”

Newly released data suggests that the two conflicts are moving in different directions. Iraq has witnessed a long-term decline in violence after the 2007 “surge” of US forces, the co-opting of Sunni insurgent groups into pro-government militias and a ceasefire agreed by Iranian-backed Shia militias. In the first six months of this year there were 214 military deaths in Iraq, compared with 609 for the same period last year.

By contrast, violence in Afghanistan has been rising steadily since 2005, with the focus of insurgent activity spreading beyond the Taleban’s heartlands in the southern provinces. Last year there was a big escalation in violence in the tribal areas of Pakistan. More than 1,000 Pakistani troops and police have been killed in there since 2001.

A spokesman for Nato forces, Mark Laity, said that the figures should be treated with caution: “We should be careful about drawing too many conclusions. This is the fighting season, when we expect higher casualties. There are more Western troops here than last year and they are more operationally active. And now the insurgents have more focus on IEDs (improvised explosive devices). This month we have seen a few incidents where a lot of occupants of a vehicle were killed by IEDs.”

The devices, mostly roadside bombs, now account for more than 80 per cent of Western military casualties.

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