Casualties

In December, the US Congressional Research Service released a report on casualties in Afghanistan among both military forces and civilians. Operation Enduring Freedom began October 7, 2001 - and also include US casualties in neighboring Pakistan and other countries. 

The statistics are rough as so often is the case with war. Because NATO's International Security Assistance Force does not post casualty statistics of partner countries, the CRS report relies data from CNN.com. Also, reporting on casualties of Afghans by the United Nations did not begin until 2007. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction once included casualty reports in quarterly reports to Congress, but has since ceased this practice, reports Susan G. Chesser, information research specialist and author of the report. So the data are from CNN, Reuters and multiple sources. The Congressional Research Report does not include data from Taliban sources. 

"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 statements of fact," notes Chesser. "This report will be updated as needed."

                                                  Fatalities        Wounded
US troops                                      2,038           18,109
Coalition partners                         1,059
Afghan civilians(2007-2011)     11,864     

This report is vague on total casualties among Afghan troops and focuses on recent years. But Afghanistan Monitor points out a total of 1,043 ANA troops were casualties from 2007 to June 2010 and also: "Figures from 2002 to end 2006 are not available but estimates put the number at 7,000 or higher."

Photo of Marines in Helmand, courtesy of DVIDSHUB and Wikimedia Commons