Afghan War Casualty Report: April 2020 The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan from the past seven days. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents.
March 27-April 2, 2020
At least 75 pro-government forces and 12 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past week. The deadliest attack took place in Takhar Province, where a Taliban Red Unit equipped with night-vision goggles and suppressed weapons attacked the center of Khwaja Ghar District from four directions, killing 10 local police and three national police officers. Insurgents captured three of the outposts and destroyed a military vehicle. Earlier in the week, in Badakhshan Province, the Taliban attacked Jurm District, capturing four villages and killing 10 soldiers. Thirty-three soldiers went missing after the attack, but 20 of them returned to the district center later on.
[Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.]
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April 2 Badakhshan Province: two security forces killed
The Taliban attacked a military base in the Dahn-e-Aab Oshtogan area of Yamgan District, where fighting continued for several hours. Security forces evacuated the base and escaped to Kieran Minjan District, but were ambushed on the way. Two members of the territorial army were killed and six others went missing.
April 2 Kandahar Province: one police officer killed
A local police commander, Abdul Matin, was killed by the Taliban in Spin Boldak district. The attackers were on a motorcycle and managed to escape from the area.
April 2 Badghis Province: six security forces killed
The Taliban attacked security outposts in the village of Khalistan in Motor District, killing two members of the National Directorate of Security and four pro-government militia members.
April 1 Wardak Province: three soldiers killed
The Taliban attacked a military vehicle in the Haft Asia area of Sayed Abad District, killing three soldiers.
April 1 Badghis Province: two police officers killed
The Taliban ambushed a convoy of Afghan security forces traveling to Motor District from Qala-e-Naw City, the provincial capital, killing two police officers.
April 1 Helmand Province: eight civilians killed
A minibus hit by a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban in the Yakhchal area of Grishko District, killing eight civilians, including six children, and wounding two others.
March 31 Kunduz Province: one police officer killed
The Taliban attacked the center of the Dasht-e-Archi district, killing one police officer and wounding another.
March 30 Jowzjan Province: three security forces killed
The Taliban attacked the center of the Qarqin District, killing three pro-government militia members and wounding four others.
March 30 Baghlan Province: four soldiers killed
The Taliban attacked a security outpost called Charshanba Tapa in Baghlan-e-Markazi District, killing four soldiers and wounding eight others. Local authorities claimed that 19 Taliban fighters were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Afghan air force.
March 30 Balkh Province: one security force killed
The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Band-e-Cheep village of Zareh District, killing one pro-government militia member and wounding another.
March 30 Baghlan Province: five police officers killed
The Taliban attacked the Gargarak outpost of the Chashma-E-Shir area on the highway connecting Baghlan to Balkh Province. Five local police officers were killed and five others were wounded. Insurgents had planted bombs on the way to the outpost to thwart reinforcements, but security forces still made it to the area and pushed back the Taliban.
March 30 Badghis Province: one police officer killed
The Taliban attacked police outposts in the village of Snjidak in Motor District, killing one police officer and wounding three others before fleeing the area when reinforcements arrived.
March 30 Kabul Province: one security force killed
General Sharmila, the head of the Gender Department of the National Directorate of Security, died from wounds she sustained when a bomb attached to her car went off in the Makroyan area of Kabul City, the provincial capital.
March 30 Takhar Province: 13 security forces killed
A Taliban Red Unit equipped with night-vision goggles and silenced weapons attacked the center of Khwaja Ghar District from four directions, capturing three of the outposts and killing 10 local police officers and three national police officers. Five other officers, including the district police chief, were wounded in the attack, and the Taliban destroyed a military vehicle and looted two of the outposts.
March 30 Zabul Province: six soldiers killed
The Taliban attacked Arghandab District, killing six Afghan soldiers before they were pushed back by security forces.
March 29 Kunduz Province: one security force killed
The Taliban attacked a group of security forces in Kunduz City, the provincial capital, killing one member of the National Directorate of Security in the Qalawor Tepa area.
March 29 Daikundi Province: four police officers killed
The Taliban attacked a local police outpost in the Kando area of Kajran District, killing four police officers and wounding seven others and a civilian. The Taliban captured the outpost, seizing all weapons and equipment.
March 29 Sari-Pul Province: one soldier killed
The Taliban attacked a military base in Sari-Pul City, the provincial capital, killing one soldier and wounding another.
March 28 Badghis Province: three police officers killed
Three police officers were killed and four others were wounded in a clash between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in the village of Band-e-Sharan in Ab-Kamari District.
March 28 Paktia Province: one civilian killed
A group of children detonated a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban while they were playing close to the main road in the Ibrahim Khail area of Gardiz City, the provincial capital. The blast killed a six-year-old child and wounded two others.
March 28 Paktia Province: one civilian killed
The Taliban killed a young man in a cricket ground in the Abdul Rahman Qala area of Ahmedabad District.
March 28 Nangarhar Province: two civilians killed
A bomb attached to the vehicle of a religious scholar exploded in the Sarband area of Lalpoora District, killing the scholar and his young son and wounding two civilians.
March 28 Kunduz Province: one soldier killed
The Taliban ambushed Afghan soldiers in the Kalay Gaw area of the Second Police District of Kunduz City, the provincial capital, killing one soldier and taking another prisoner. Local authorities claimed that two Taliban fighters were killed and four others were wounded in the clash.
March 28 Kunduz Province: two police officers killed
The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Arbab Ramazani village of Ali Abad District, killing two local police officers and wounding one civilian.
March 28 Badakhshan Province: 10 soldiers killed Afghan War Casualty Report: April 2020
The Taliban attacked Jurm District, capturing four villages, killing 10 soldiers and taking three other prisoners.
March 27 Herat Province: one police officer killed
One police officer was killed and another was wounded after the Taliban attacked a security outpost in the village of Maldar in the center of Shindand District. Local authorities claimed that two Taliban fighters were killed and five others were wounded in the ensuing clash with Afghan forces.
March 27 Jowzjan Province: three security forces killed
The Taliban attacked the center of Mordian District, killing three pro-government militia members over five hours of fighting.
Reporting was contributed by the following New York Times reporters: Najim Rahim and Fatima Faizi from Kabul, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Farooq Jan Mangal from Khost, Zabihullah Ghazi from Nangarhar and Asadullah Timory from Herat. Afghan War Casualty Report: April 2020
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