Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces
and Civilians

Susan G. Chesser
Information Research Specialist
June 3, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41084
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Summary
This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation
Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001, and is ongoing. OEF actions take
place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in
Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya,
Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.
Casualty data of U.S. military forces are compiled by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as
tallied from the agency’s press releases. Also included are statistics on those wounded but not
killed. Statistics may be revised as circumstances are investigated and as records are processed
through the U.S. military’s casualty system. More frequent updates are available at DOD’s
website at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ under “Casualty Update.”
A detailed casualty summary of U.S. military forces that includes data on deaths by cause, as well
as statistics on soldiers wounded in action, is available at the following DOD website:
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not post casualty statistics of the
military forces of partner countries on the ISAF website at http://www.isaf.nato.int/. ISAF press
releases state that it is ISAF policy to defer to the relevant national authorities to provide notice of
any fatality. For this reason, this report uses fatality data of coalition forces as compiled by
CNN.com and posted online at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/index.html.
Casualty data of Afghan civilians are reported quarterly by the United Nations Assistance Mission
to Afghanistan (UNAMA). Deaths of Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army
personnel are reported by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in the
quarterly reports to Congress that are required as part of P.L. 110-181.
Because the estimates of Afghan casualties contained in this report are based on varying time
periods and have been created using different methodologies, readers should exercise caution
when using them and should look to them as guideposts rather than as statements of fact.
This report will be updated as needed.

Congressional Research Service

Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

he following tables present data on U.S. military casualties in Operation Enduring
Freedom, deaths of coalition partners in Afghanistan, and Afghan casualties, respectively.
T Table 1. Operation Enduring Freedom, U.S. Fatalities and Wounded
as of June 2, 2010, 10 a.m. EDT from October 7, 2001
Fatalities In
Fatalities in
and Around
Other
Total

Afghanistana
Locationsb
Fatalitiesc
Wounded in Action
Hostile
2,738
d 785
8
793
Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Non-Hostile
3,403
e 216 70 286
Not Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Total 1,001
78
1,079
Total
6,141
Source: http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf
a. “Fatalities in and around Afghanistan” include casualties that occurred in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Uzbekistan.
b. “Other locations” includes casualties that occurred in Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychel es, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.
c. Fatalities include two Department of Defense civilian casualties.
d. According to the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, as amended through 31
August 2005, a “hostile casualty” is a victim of a terrorist activity or a casualty as the result of combat or
attack by any force against U.S. forces, available at http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA43918.
e. The above-named reference defines a “nonhostile casualty” as a casualty that is not directly attributable to
hostile action or terrorist activity, such as casualties due to the elements, self-inflicted wounds, or combat
fatigue.
Table 2. American Casualties by Year through June 2, 2010
Year
Total Deaths
Total Wounded in Action
2001 11
33
2002 49
74
2003 45
99
2004 52 214
2005 98 268
2006 98 401
2007 117 752
2008 155 793
2009 311 2,131
2010 through June 2
143
1,152
Source: http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oefmonth.pdf
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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Table 3. Deaths of Coalition Partners in Afghanistan
Country
# of Deaths
Country
# of Deaths
Australia 11
Lithuania
1
Belgium 1
Netherlands
23
Canada 147
Norway
5
Czech Republic
3
Poland
16
Denmark 32
Portugal
2
Estonia 7
Romania 13
Finland 1
South
Korea
1
France 42
Spain
28
Germany 43
Sweden
4
Hungary 2
Turkey
2
Italy 24
United
Kingdom
290
Latvia 4


Total Non-U.S. Coalition Fatalities

700
Sources: CNN U.S. and Coalition Casualties, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/2010.02.html,
updated May 14, 2010; Canada’s Department of National Defence, http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/news-nouvelles/
fallen-disparus/index-eng.asp, viewed June 3, 2010; United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, http://www.mod.uk/
DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInAfghanistanBritishFatalities.htm, viewed June 3,
2010; “Factbox: Military Deaths in Afghanistan,” Reuters News, 3 June 2010, and “Two Italian Soldiers Killed in
Afghanistan,” Reuters News, 17 May 2010.
Table 4. Afghan Casualties
Group
Period
# of Deaths
Note
Afghan Civilians
December 28, 2009-
737 killed

March 31, 2010
979 injureda
2009 2,412
killed
67% of civilian deaths were
attributed to actions of anti-
3,566 injuredb
Government elements (78% of these
deaths were caused by improvised
explosive devices and suicide
attacks).
25% of civilian deaths were
attributed to pro-Government
forces.
8% of civilian deaths were the result
of cross-fire or improperly
detonated ordnance.
2008 2,118c

2007 1,523c

Afghan National Army
December 28, 2009-
90d

March 31, 2010
January-December 27, 2009
292e

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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Group
Period
# of Deaths
Note
2007-2008 537f

Afghan National Police
December 28, 2009-
157g

March 31, 2010
January-December 27, 2009
639h

2007-2008 1,412i

Sources: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service from noted sources.
a. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, April
30, 2010, p. 53, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/Apr2010/SIGARapril_Lores.pdf.
b. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, Human Rights Unit, Afghanistan: Annual Report on
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2009, January 2010, p. I, http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/UNAMA/
human%20rights/Protection%20of%20Civilian%202009%20report%20English.pdf.
c. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, Human Rights Unit, Afghanistan: Annual Report on
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2008, January 2009, p. 12, http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/
UNAMA/human%20rights/UNAMA_09february-Annual%20Report_PoC%202008_FINAL_11Feb09.pdf.
d. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, April
30, 2010, p. 58, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/Apr2010/SIGARapril_Lores.pdf.
e. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 55. http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf; Quarterly
Report to the United States Congress, October 30, 2009, p. 62, http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/
Oct09/pdf/SIGAROct2009Web.pdf; and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly
Report to the United States Congress, January 30, 2010, p. 64, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/
jan2010/pdf/SIGAR_Jan2010.pdf.
f.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 55, http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf
g. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, April
30, 2010, p. 64, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/Apr2010/SIGARapril_Lores.pdf.
h. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 60, http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf; Quarterly
Report to the United States Congress, October 30, 2009, p. 66, http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/
Oct09/pdf/SIGAROct2009Web.pdf; and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly
Report to the United States Congress, January 30, 2010, p. 69, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/
jan2010/pdf/SIGAR_Jan2010.pdf.
i.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 60, http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf.

Author Contact Information

Susan G. Chesser

Information Research Specialist
schesser@crs.loc.gov, 7-9547


Congressional Research Service
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