A FORMER US and NATO commander in Afghanistan has said he believes the coalition has achieved only about half of its objectives in the conflict so far.
General Stanley McChrystal also said he believed the US invaded Afghanistan with too little knowledge of the history, culture or languages of the country and that the Iraq invasion two years into the Afghan War complicated the Afghan operation by changing the Muslim world’s view of the US.
The conflict has claimed the lives of thousands of Afghan civilians. Last year alone, at least 2,421 civilians were killed and over 3,270 others injured in the Afghan conflict, according to Afghanistan Rights Monitor.
Ten years on, here’s an overview of the Afghan War, in numbers:
3,652: days since US invasion of Afghanistan
1,182: days left until the 1 January 2015 deadline for US and NATO troop withdrawal
2,753: coalition fatalities to date
1,801: US fatalities to date
460,000,000,000: estimated amount in dollars the US has spent on the Afghan War
15: per cent more Afghan civilians killed in the first six months of 2011
690: number of Afghan civilians killed by improvised explosive devices in 2010
10,000: US troops to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year
140,000: Foreign troops currently in Afghanistan
58: percentage of Americans who in May 2011 said US deployment to Afghanistan was not a mistake
93: percentage of Americans who in January 2002 said US deployment to Afghanistan was not a mistake
5,000,000: refugees who have returned to Afghanistan since 2002
2,700,000: Afghan refugees currently in Pakistan and Iran
25: journalists and media workers killed in Afghanistan since 2001
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