The lowest number of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troop casualties in last four years were recorded in Afghanistan in 2012, and a downward trend continued for the second successive year since 2010 when the military alliance suffered the worst losses of lives in its more than a decade old war against terrorism in the country.
According to ICasualties.org, an independent website that monitors international troop casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, 405 coalition military personnel were killed last year. The figures were worse in the previous years: 521 deaths in 2009, 711 deaths in 2010, and 566 deaths in 2011.
Successful stepped up security operations to dislodge Taliban militants from their strongholds and the increased efficiency of the Afghan forces that fight jointly with foreign troops are cited as the main reason behind significant reduction in troop deaths.
U.S. soldiers, constituting a major chunk of the foreign force, were the worst-hit in 2012 as it was all through the 12 years, with 310 deaths. Britain, second largest contributor to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), followed losing 44 service personnel, the website said.
When only 12 soldiers lost their lives in 2001, the year in which US-led anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan began, 711 foreign troops died fighting the insurgents in the war-torn country in 2010 alone.
The long-stretched military mission in Afghanistan has so far cost NATO and allied nations the lives of 3,252 soldiers, out of which 2,174 were Americans.
The southern provinces of Afghanistan still remain the most dangerous, despite the presence of a large number of international and Afghan troops in the volatile region. Helmand (916) and Kandahar (508) together account for nearly half of all foreign troop deaths in 2012.
Out of total casualties in 2012, up to 58 coalition soldiers had been killed in the so-called "green on blue" insider attacks, when coalition troops, wearing blue uniform, attacked by Afghan soldiers who wear green uniform.
However, the biggest threat to the foreign forces in Afghanistan remains Taliban's home-made bombs known as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Launched in 2011, the transition to Afghan full security responsibility is due to be completed at the end of 2014, when ISAF is scheduled to wind up its security operations.
The final batch of 33,000 U.S. troops that President Barack Obama sent to Afghanistan as part of Surge Forces has returned home on schedule in September 2012 after successfully completing their mission, bringing the total number of foreign soldiers down to 100,000 with nearly 68,000 of them Americans.
In a significant step towards the shared goal of seeing Afghans fully in charge of their own security by the end of 2014, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced last week transition in the fourth group of Afghan provinces, cities and districts, scheduled for the coming months. With this decision, the Afghan security forces will be taking the lead for security for 87% of the Afghan population and 23 of the 34 provinces.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com