Afghanistan Casualties:
Military Forces and Civilians
Susan G. Chesser
Information Research Specialist
February 17, 2011
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41084
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

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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.
Reporting on casualties of Afghans did not begin until 2007, and a variety of entities now
report the casualties of civilians and security forces members. The United Nations
Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports casualty data of Afghan civilians
semiannually, and the U.S. Department of Defense occasionally includes civilian casualty
figures within its reports on Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission, http://www.aihrc.org.af/2010_eng/, and the Afghan Rights Monitor,
http://www.arm.org.af/, are local watchdog organizations that periodically publish reports
regarding civilian casualties. From July 2009 through April 2010, the Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) included statistics of casualties of
members of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police in its quarterly
reports to Congress. SIGAR has ceased this practice, and there is no other published
compilation of these statistics. This report now derives casualty figures of Afghan
soldiers and police from the press accounts of the Reuters “Factbox: Security
Developments in Afghanistan” series, the Pajhwok Afghan News agency. Both services
attribute their reported information to officials of the NATO-led ISAF or local Afghan
officials. Pajhwok Afghan News frequently concludes its accounts with statements from
representatives of the Taliban, however, these figures are not included in this report.
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

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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 February 17, 2011, 10 a.m. EST from October 7, 2001)
Fatalities In
Fatalities in
and Around
Other
Total

Afghanistana
Locationsb
Fatalitiesc
Wounded in Action
Hostiled 1,130
11
1,141


Non-Hostilee 243 84 326


Total 1,372
95
1,467
Total
10,351
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://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary/.
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 February 17, 2011
Year
Total Deaths
Total Wounded in Action
2001 11
33
2002 49
74
2003 45
99
2004 52 214
2005 98 267
2006 98 401
2007 117 750
2008 155 793
2009 311 2,144
2010
499
5,222
2011 through February 17
32
354
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 22
Lithuania
1
Belgium 1
Netherlands
24
Canada 155
New
Zealand
3
Czech Republic
3
Norway
9
Denmark 39
Poland
25
Estonia 8
Portugal 2
Finland 2
Romania 17
France 53
South
Korea
1
Georgia 5
Spain
30
Germany 45
Sweden

4
Hungary 4
Turkey
2
Italy 32
United
Kingdom
357
Latvia 4


Total Non-U.S. Coalition Fatalities
848
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, February 15, 2011.
Table 4. Afghan Casualties
Group
Period
# of Casualties
Note
Afghan Civilians
January 2011a 74
killed
These deaths include a member of the
Afghanistan Independent Human
116 injured
Rights Commission and her family, as
well as the deputy governor of
Kandahar province. Three attacks by
suicide bombers or roadside bombs
resulted in 50 deaths.
January
1,
2010-
2,421 killed
Anti-government elements, which
December 31, 2010b
include the Taliban and other
3,270 injured
individuals or groups who engage in
armed conflict with the government of
Afghanistan or members of the
International Military Forces, were
reported responsible for 63% of the
civilian deaths. ore than 690 civilians
died by improvised explosive devices.
Pro-government forces caused 21% of
the total civilian deaths.
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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

Group
Period
# of Casualties
Note
2009c 2,412
killed
67% of civilian deaths were attributed
to actions of anti-government
3,566 injured
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.
2008d
2,118 killed

2007d
1,523 killed

Afghan National
January 2011e 3
killed

Army
4 wounded

January 1 - December 31,
806 killedf
Information released by General Zahir
2010
Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan

Defence Ministry.
775 woundedg
2009h 292
killed

859 wounded
2008i 259
killed

875 wounded
2007i 278
killed

750 wounded
Afghan National
January 2011e 7
killed

Police
5 wounded

January 1 - December 31,
1,250 killed

2010j
743 wounded
2009k 639
killed

1,145 wounded
2008l 724
killed

1,209 wounded
2007l 688
killed

1,036 wounded
Sources: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service from noted sources.
a. Press reports from Reuters, the Pajhwok Afghan News agency, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission, and “Family Vanishes in Attack on Market,” The New York Times, January 30, 2011.
b. “The Civilian Human Cost of the War in 2010,” press release of the Afghanistan Rights Monitor, February
1, 2011, http://www.arm.org.af/.
c. 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.
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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

d. 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.
e. Press reports from Reuters and the Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
f.
“Afghan Army Casualties Increase,” Pajhwok Afghan News, December 22, 2010; “More Than 800 Afghan
Soldiers Killed This Year, Army Says,” Trend News Agency [Azerbaijan], December 22, 2010.
g. 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; response
via e-mail from the staff of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, August 9, 2010;
and press reports from Reuters and the Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
h. 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.
i.
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.
j.
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; response
via e-mail from the staff of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, August 9, 2010;
“Blast Leaves 2 Afghan Soldiers Dead in Logar,” Pajhwok Afghan News, January 8, 2011, and press reports
from Reuters and the Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
k. 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.
l.
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.

Author Contact Information

Susan G. Chesser

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


Congressional Research Service
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