Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces
and Civilians
Susan G. Chesser
Information Research Specialist
June 23, 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 23, 2010, 10 a.m. EDT from October 7, 2001
Fatalities In
Fatalities in
and Around
Other
Total
Afghanistana
Locationsb
Fatalitiesc
Wounded in Action
Hostile
2,915
d 817
8
825
Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Non-Hostile
3,554
e 221 70 291
Not Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Total 1,038
78
1,116
Total
6,469
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 23, 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 23
180
1,695
Source: http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oefmonth.pdf
Congressional Research Service
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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 16
Lithuania
1
Belgium 1
Netherlands
24
Canada 149
Norway
5
Czech Republic
3
Poland
19
Denmark 33
Portugal
2
Estonia 7
Romania 13
Finland 1
South
Korea
1
France 44
Spain
28
Germany 43
Sweden
4
Hungary 2
Turkey
2
Italy 24
United
Kingdom
303
Latvia 4
—
—
Total Non-U.S. Coalition Fatalities
729
Sources: CNN U.S. and Coalition Casualties, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/2010.02.html,
updated May 14, 2010; CNN Casualties in Afghanistan; Canada’s Department of National Defence,
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/news-nouvelles/fallen-disparus/index-eng.asp; United Kingdom Ministry of Defense,
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/
OperationsInAfghanistanBritishFatalities.htm; “Factbox: Military Deaths in Afghanistan,” Reuters News, June 23,
2010, and “Two Italian Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan,” Reuters News, May 17, 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-Government
3,566 injuredb
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
2007-2008
537f
Congressional Research Service
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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
Group
Period
# of Deaths
Note
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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