The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said on Thursday he expected to see violence and casualties rising in the coming months.

Gen. Stanley McChystal: “I think it’s likely that our casualties and violence will continue to rise, particularly through the summer months. They could rise well into the fall. But I think it’s important, because I think it’s that pressure we place on the insurgency that will be, in the security part of this effort, important.”