The Kite Runner

The official figure of civilian deaths in Afghanistan is a serious underestimate. It is unlikely that we will ever know the real cost of Afghan lives

- Aunohita Mojumdar

ONE figure associated with the Global War on Terror that was fought in Afghanistan stands at 2.3 trillion. It is the amount of money, in dollars, that was spent by the US on Afghanistan, the bulk of it on US troops and combat operations. Another number is 2,324. It is the number of US troops who died in Afghanistan from October 2001 (when military operations were launched) to August 2021 (when the US troops abandoned Afghanistan in a hurry). Seventy thousand is yet another number—that of Afghan military and police deaths in the same period. One more official number is 46,319—a very precise figure—of Afghan civilians killed in the same period. The problem is that the last figure is completely untrue.

As is now widely acknowledged, the official figure of civilian deaths in Afghanistan is a serious underestimate. The number of civilians killed in military operations carried out by the international community was deliberately under-reported, and it is unlikely that we will ever know the real cost of Afghan lives. Who could be called a civilian was a deeply contested issue in the war waged in Afghanistan. Not surprising since the entire trajectory of the war was determined thousands of miles away, its decisions determined by the strategic interests of powerful global players rather than Afghan civilians.