At least 90 pro-government forces and 21 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past week.
The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan from the past seven days. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents.
At least 90 pro-government forces and 21 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past week. The casualties of pro-government forces increased this week, but the number of the Taliban attacks decreased. The bloodiest attack took place in Wardak Province, where a Taliban suicide attacker drove an armored Humvee packed with explosives to an Afghan intelligence agency’s base, killing 50 intelligence personnel and wounding dozens others. It is the first time in recent weeks that Taliban attacks across the country decreased dramatically, perhaps due to the cold weather and the first heavy snowfalls in many parts of the county. One American service member was killed in Oruzgan Province by enemy fire during a combat mission.
[Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.]
Contributors: Reporting was contributed by the following New York Times reporters: Rod Nordland and Fatima Faizi from Kabul; Najim Rahim from Mazar-e-Sharif; Taimoor Shah from Kandahar; Zabihullah Ghazi from Jalalabad and Farooq Jan Mangal from Khost.
Jan. 23 Helmand Province: 16 civilians killed
At least 16 civilians were killed during a joint military operation of Afghan and American forces in Sangin District. The house where the civilians lived was targeted, although it’s unclear if it was hit by an airstrike or a rocket.
Jan. 22 Faryab province: one police officer killed
The Taliban attacked security outposts in the center of Almar District, killing one police officer and wounding a pro-government militia member.
Jan. 22 Oruzgan Province: one American service member killed
Staff Sgt. Joshua Z.
