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BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Nine NATO troops are dead after a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for coalition troops in that country to a record high.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pentagon says there were no signs of enemy fire.  A Fox News correspondent on the ground in Afghanistan puts the numbers in perspective.

“The latest U.S. deaths brings the number of U.S. and international troops killed here in Afghanistan to a record number of 529. Just to put that in perspective in 10 months this a new record, of how many people, how many troops were killed in Afghanistan. The last record set in one year was 521. This is a grim milestone. It’s a reminder of just how deadly and violent this war in Afghanistan has become.”

For CBS, Mandy Clark puts the incident and NATO deaths in historical context.

“Helicopters are essential in the Afghanistan mission. The county is mountainous and the roads littered with roadside bombs. But helicopter crashes have happened in the past. Last year two crashes left 14 Americans dead.”

Headlines in blogs and newspapers are calling 2010 the deadliest and bloodiest year for coalition troops in Afghanistan.

But an opinion piece in The Washington Post warns against the grim headlines, saying while the death toll is unacceptable, it’s better than Iraq at its worst.

“... while U.S. and allied military casualties have risen in the past two years as more troops have surged into the country, they are still far below the levels of the war in Iraq at its peak -- not to speak of Vietnam, where more American soldiers died in one month than during nine years of Operation Enduring Freedom.”

The Pentagon says the incident is under investigation. On MSNBC, John Yang reports the reason for the ramped up violence is because NATO forces are doing their jobs.

“The northeastern part of Afghanistan has never been sort of the natural territory of the Taliban. Their stronghold has been in the south and in the west. But after the coalition forces started pressing them in the south, they tried to show their strength elsewhere. They moved some operations, increased operations up to the north, which is also an important supply line from the nations north of Afghanistan. What the two coalition generals were saying in the briefing is the pressure in the north is working.”

But in the Telegraph, reporter Ben Farmer suggests that’s the message the military WANTS reported.

“Nato commanders, who are under pressure to demonstrate success after nine years of fighting, have blamed the rising violence on insurgents putting up last ditch resistance as coalition troops push into their strongholds.”

The New York Times reports suicide bomb attacks have doubled from last year, and roadside bomb attacks have gone up 82 percent.

Get more multi-source world news from Newsy.com.