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Security & Conflict
The war ended. New violence has begun.
The end of the war between the Taliban and the Republic is the clearest improvement since 2021: civilian casualties fell from about 10,000 a year to the hundreds. Bombings by ISKP continue, and cross-border strikes since October 2025 are reversing the gain.
Photo: Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0
Key Facts
- 10,401 → 8,820Civilian casualties per year (UNAMA)2019 and 2020, the last full years of the war
- 108Civilian casualties, first quarter of 202534 killed and 74 injured
- 269+Civilians killed, first quarter of 2026Cross-border strikes verified by UNAMA
- 40,000+Civilians killed, 2009 to August 2021With more than 77,000 injured
Civilian casualties per year (UNAMA)
10,401 → 8,820
2019 and 2020, the last full years of the war
UNAMA civilian casualties (killed / injured / total)
| Year | Killed | Injured | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2,412 | 3,557 | 5,969 |
| 2010 | 2,794 | 4,362 | 7,156 |
| 2011 | 3,133 | 4,709 | 7,842 |
| 2012 | 2,769 | 4,821 | 7,590 |
| 2013 | 2,969 | 5,669 | 8,638 |
| 2014 | 3,701 | 6,834 | 10,535 |
| 2015 | 3,565 | 7,470 | 11,035 |
| 2016 | 3,527 | 7,925 | 11,452 |
| 2017 | 3,442 | 7,019 | 10,461 |
| 2018 | 3,803 | 7,191 | 10,994 |
| 2019 | 3,409 | 6,992 | 10,401 |
| 2020 | 3,035 | 5,785 | 8,82068 |
| H1 2021 | 1,659 | 3,524 | 5,183 (+47% vs H1 2020)69 |
| 15 Aug 2021–30 May 2023 (21.5 months) | 1,095 | 2,679 | 3,77470 |
| Q1 2025 | 34 | 74 | 10871 |
| Oct–Dec 2025 (mostly Pakistani strikes) | ≥70 | 478 | ≥54819 |
| Q1 2026 (Pakistani strikes) | ≥269 | 122 | ≥39120 |
Figures from UNAMA's 2020 annual report chart. Earlier reports give slightly different totals for some years: 2011 = 7,837, 2017 = 10,453, 2019 = 10,392.72737475
- 2009
- 2012
- 2014
- 2016
- 2018
- 2020
- 2021H1
- Aug21–May23
- 2025 Q1
More than 40,000 civilians were killed and more than 77,000 injured between January 2009 and August 2021.76 The end of the war between the Taliban and the Republic's forces is the most important humanitarian gain since 2021: millions of rural Afghans, especially in the south, can now travel without airstrikes, IEDs or ground fighting.
Three caveats apply. ISKP continues mass-casualty bombings, which caused 1,701 casualties between August 2021 and May 2023.58 Explosive remnants of war still kill children: 42 civilians were killed or injured by unexploded ordnance in Q1 2025 alone, 30 of them boys.71 And Pakistan–Taliban hostilities since October 2025 have produced the highest civilian tolls since 2021. UNAMA says the October–December 2025 casualties far exceeded any previous annual cross-border total.77
Displacement. Conflict-driven internal displacement largely stopped after 2021. The displacement story is now one of mass forced returns (Section 11).
AFM's Position
An Afghanistan that rejects extremism and terrorism in all forms and gives no safe haven to groups that threaten its people, its neighbours or the region.
Research & References
Small numbers beside a figure link to its source. Figures from Taliban ministries are reported as claims and cannot be independently verified.
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