500th U.S. service member dies in Afghanistan

A sailor killed in Afghanistan on Saturday was the 500th U.S. service member to die in that country since the war there began in 2001.

Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Harris of Lexington, North Carolina, was 36.

Twenty-two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in August, part of a recent increase in American deaths there. In June, 28 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan -- the United States' highest one-month total in that country.

Including deaths from the United States' coalition partners, 46 service members were killed in August, equaling the coalition total for June. Forty-six is the highest one-month total for coalition forces.

But Afghan and coalition forces killed more than four times as many insurgents -- 220 -- in one week last month in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. coalition said.

The battles occurred in Helmand province from August 25 through Saturday, the coalition said. The battles also led to the discovery of weapons caches.

Since the start of the Afghanistan war, 940 coalition troops have been killed, including Americans.