Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces
and Civilians

Susan G. Chesser
Information Research Specialist
September 14, 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 September 14, 2010, 10 a.m. EDT from October 7, 2001
Fatalities In
Fatalities in
and Around
Other
Total

Afghanistana
Locationsb
Fatalitiesc
Wounded in Action
Hostile
3,762
d 958
12
970
Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Non-Hostile
4,279
e 216 82 298
Not Returned to Duty
within 72 Hours
Total 1,174
94
1,268
Total
8,041
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
a. “Fatalities in and around Afghanistan” includes 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 personnel.
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 September 14, 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 2,139
2010 through September 14
332
3,268
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Statistical Information Analysis Division, 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 21
Lithuania
1
Belgium 1
Netherlands
24
Canada 153
New
Zealand
1
Czech Republic
3
Norway
9
Denmark 36
Poland
21
Estonia 8
Portugal 2
Finland 1
Romania 15
France 48
South
Korea
1
Georgia 1
Spain
30
Germany 43
Sweden

4
Hungary 4
Turkey
2
Italy 26
United
Kingdom
335
Latvia 4


Total Non-U.S. Coalition Fatalities
794
Sources: CNN Casualties in Afghanistan, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/table.afghanistan.html;
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; Australia’s Department of Defence,
http://www.defence.gov.au/op/afghanistan/info/personnel.htm; “Factbox: Military Deaths in Afghanistan,” Reuters
News, July 27, 2010.
Table 4. Afghan Casualties
Group
Period
# of Casualties
Note
Afghan Civilians
January 1, 2010-
1,271 killed
76% of civilian deaths and injuries were
June 30, 2010
caused by anti-Government elements,
1,997 injureda
which includes the Taliban as well as
The number of
other individuals or groups who
killed includes
engage in armed conflict with the
120 women and
Government of Afghanistan or
176 children.
members of the International Military
Forces.
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

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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Group
Period
# of Casualties
Note
Afghan National Army
January 1 - June 30, 2010
214d

2009 292e

2007-2008
537f

Afghan National Police
January 1 – June 30, 2010
289g

2009 639h

2007-2008
1,412i

Sources: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service from noted sources.
a. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, Human Rights Unit, Afghanistan: Mid-Year Report on
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2010, August 10, 2010, p. i, http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/
UNAMA/Documents/
10August2010_Mid%20Year%20Report%202010%20Protection%20of%20Civilians%20in%20Armed%20Confl
ict_English.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 and response via
e-mail from the staff of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, August 9, 2010.
e. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 55. http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf; Quarterly Report
to the United States Congress, October 30, 2009, p. 62, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/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/pdf/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 and response via
e-mail from the staff of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, August 9, 2010.
h. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, July
30, 2009, p. 60, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf; Quarterly Report
to the United States Congress, October 30, 2009, p. 66, http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/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/pdf/quarterlyreports/Jul09/pdf/Report_-_July_2009.pdf.

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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Author Contact Information

Susan G. Chesser

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


Congressional Research Service
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