Afghanistan Casualties:
Military Forces and Civilians
Susan G. Chesser
Information Research Specialist
May 4, 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, Daily Outlook Afghanistan from Kabul,
and the AfPak Channel Daily Brief. These 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 May 3, 2011, 10 a.m. EDT from October 7, 2001)
Fatalities In
Fatalities in
and Around
Other
Total

Afghanistana
Locationsb
Fatalitiesc
Wounded in Action
Hostiled 1,209
11
1,220


Non-Hostilee 251 89 340


Total 1,460
100
1,560
Total
11,191
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 May 3, 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
5,226
2011 through May 3
125
1,190
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
Countrya
# of Deaths
Country
# of Deaths
Australia 23
Lithuania
1
Belgium 1
Netherlands
24
Canada 156
New
Zealand
3
Czech Republic
3
Norway
10
Denmark 39
Poland
26
Estonia 8
Portugal 2
Finland 2
Romania 17
France 56
South
Korea
1
Georgia 7
Spain
30
Germany 48
Sweden

4
Hungary 4
Turkey
2
Italy 33
United
Kingdom
364
Latvia 4


Total Non-U.S. Coalition Fatalities
868
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, April 26, 2011.
a. Countries listed indicate the nationality of the military forces, not of the individuals. For example, Fijians
who were killed while fighting in French forces are counted as French. Similarly, citizens of other nations
who fight in American military forces are counted as Americans.
Table 4. Afghan Casualties
Group
Period
# of Casualties
Note
Afghan Civilians
January-April 2011a 341
killed At least 30 civilians were killed and
more than 100 wounded in April
618 injured
during protests against a Florida
church burning a Quran.
2010b 2,777
killed
Anti-government elements (AGEs),
which include the Taliban and other
4,343 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 75% of the
civilian deaths and 78% of civilian
injuries. The number of civilians
assassinated by AGEs increased 105%,
to 462 persons, compared with civilian
assassinations in 2009.
Congressional Research Service
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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 AGEs (78% of these
3,566 injured
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-April 2011e 66
killed News sources include the report that,
Army
as of March 16, 21 soldiers had been
29 wounded
killed in the previous 21 days.
2010 806
killedf
Information released by General Zahir
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-April 2011e 48
killed
Police
51 wounded
2010j 1,250
killed

743 wounded
2009k 639
killed

1,145 wounded
2008l 724
killed

1,209 wounded
2007l 688
killed

1,036 wounded
Source: 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, Daily Outlook Afghanistan, the AfPak Channel Daily Brief, and “Family Vanishes in Attack on
Market,” The New York Times, January 30, 2011.
b. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, Human Rights Unit, Afghanistan: Annual Report on
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2010, March 2011, p. i-1, http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/
UNAMA/human%20rights/March%20PoC%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf.
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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians

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.
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, the Pajhwok Afghan News agency, Daily Outlook Afghanistan, and the AfPak
Channel Daily Brief.
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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