Afghanistan Document: US, Coalition Casualties Up 55%

Wikileaks has obtained a 26-slide summary from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan which compares casualties in insurgency in April 2009 vs. a year earlier:

There has been a 64% increase in insurgent attacks, an 80% increase in IED [improvised explosive device] attacks, a 90% increase in attacks on the Afghan government based in Kabul. ISAF deaths were up 55%, but recorded civilian deaths were down 44%.

The documents points to the concentration of insurgent attacks, with 80 percent of casualties occurring in 13 percent of Afghanistan's districts (there are almost 11 attacks in Helmand Provice each day), and the significance of IEDs, which caused 60 percent of the deaths and injuries. The decrease in civilian deaths in contrast to the increase in military casualties, particularly amidst the rising toll from US and NATO airstrikes, is not explained.

Wikileaks add the caution, "It should be noted that the statistics are likely chosen, with some exceptions, to produce a positive image."