Table of Contents
Security Incidents
Terror Attacks, 2007
Suicide Attacks
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Attacks
High Casualty Terrorist Bombings
Insurgent Targets, 2002-2006
For more information, see also the Monitor's posts on armed conflict, IEDs and terrorism.
Last updated: October 2009
2009
- "According to UNDSS, the number of security incidents recorded in August hit a record high; the average number of incidents per day nearly doubled in advance of the elections on 20 August (from 30 to 50-60), and no fewer than 300 incidents were recorded on election day itself." Humanitarian Update Issue 9 August 2009, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 1 August 2009
- "There has been an average of 898 incidents in the first seven months of 2009, compared to 677 during the same time frame in 2008. Incidents involving improvised explosive devices have risen dramatically, to an average of more than eight per day, 60 per cent higher than the average during the first seven months of 2008." The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security (S/2009/475), United Nations Report of the Secretary General, 22 September 2009
- "UNICEF has record 98 school incidents in the period from 1 May until 24 June 2009, including direct attacks by small arms and rockets, arson, and threats." Terrorism kills more Afghan civilian than any military action - UN mission, UN News Centre, 13 July 2009
- "[2009] saw a 43 per cent increase in the monthly average number of security incidents, 740 of which rose from 519 in the first four months of 2008 to 740 during the same period in 2009." The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security (S/2009/323), United Nations Report of the Secretary General, 23 June 2009
- "Insurgent attacks and crime killed around 70 Afghan teachers, students and education workers over the past year, and wounded another 140." Afghan education attacks kill 70 in a year: Ministry, ABS-CBN News, 29 April 2009
- "In 2007 there were around 5,000 'violent incidents' in the 20 worst-affected districts of the country. [In 2008] the total rose to around 7,000." Nato figures show surge in Afghanistan violence, The Guardian, 31 January 2009
2008
- Afghanistan attacks up 40% in east, Pentagon says, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2008
- Insurgent attacks still up in Afghanistan's east, Informed Comment Global Affairs, 28 May 2008
- Security incidents by week, 2008, Informed Comment Global Affairs, 10 April 2008
- Afghanistan: Graphing the violence, The Long War Journal, 5 April 2008
- 2007 Security statistics released, Vigilant Security Services Afghanistan (c/o Informed Comment Global Affairs), 9 January 2008
List of Acronyms (c/o Long War Journal):
AGE: anti-government elements
IED: improvised explosive devices
VBIED: vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices
SVBIED: suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices
BBIED: body-borne improvised explosive device
CPX: complex attack
SAF: small-arms fire
RPG: rocket propelled grenade
Terror Attacks
2008
'2008 Report on Terrorism', National Counterterrorism Center
Afghanistan and Pakistan:
- The number of kidnappings in Pakistan rose sharply by 340 percent and in Afghanistan by about 100 percent
- Pakistan in 2008 recorded a 50-50 split in the number of Person-borne Improvised Explosive Device (PBIED) attacks and Suicide Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) attacks; however, in 2007 the split was 58.5 percent (PBIED) versus 41.5 percent (SVBIED). Afghan insurgents have closed the disparity as well, 45.2 percent of suicide attacks in 2008 were SVBIED attacks versus 33.6 percent in 2007.
2007
'2007 Report on Terrorism', National Counterterrorism Center
Afghanistan:
"Afghanistan registered a 16 percent increase in the number of attacks in 2007 as compared with the previous year. Despite the increase, activity patterns remain consistent with the previous year where the majority of attacks reported were against police and in complete disregard to collateral casualties; 43 percent of the attacks were targeted against police."
Pakistan:
"Terror attacks in 2007 increased by 137 percent in Pakistan over 2006 attacks. Although the government signed a peace agreement in September 2006 with pro-Taliban tribes in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the region accounted for 54 percent of the total attacks, up from 23 percent the previous year.
2001-2005: 5; 2006: 123; 2007 to June: 77; '80 percent of casualties are civilians'
Report: Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Attacks:
2009
"By September 2008, total IED incidents in Afghanistan for FY 2008 were roughly 25 percent higher than the number experienced during the previous year, and twice the number in 2006. Coalition force casualties also increased, nearly doubling from September 2007 to September 2008. As in Iraq, IEDs remained the prime killer on the battlefield, causing more than half the deaths due to enemy action." Annual Report 2008 Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), May 2009 (graph)
"According to ISAF, in 2008, direct fire incidents increased 40 percent and indirect fire incidents increased 27 percent. IED incidents, including discovered IEDs and suicide bombings, increased 26 percent." Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, January 2009 (report; graph)
- 2006: 1,931
- 2007: 2,615
- 2008: ~3,295
2008
"IED attacks in Afghanistan are increasing in frequency and lethality, however, at this time the number of attacks is still substantially lower than attacks in Iraq at their peak." The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization: DOD's Fight against IEDs Today and Tomorrow, November 2008 (report; graph)
"While the number of IED attacks increased in 2007 over 2006, so did the number of IEDs that were discovered and pre-detonated, as well as those that were reported by local nationals." Progress in Afghanistan - Bucharest Summit 2-4 April 2008, April 2008 (report; graph)
2007
2007 Security Statistics Released, Vigilant Security Services, 9 January 2008 (graph)
- Total number of IEDs, 2007: ~1314
- Successful IED attacks, 2007: ~711
Washington Post, 30 September 2007
- 2002: 22
- 2003: 83
- 2006: 1,730
- First half of 2007: 1,000
High Casualty Terrorist Bombings (>15 deaths)
(September 11, 1995 – September 10, 2007)
Center for Systemic Peace, High Casualty Terrorist Bombings (HCTB), 11 September 1995-10 September 2007, case list of bomb attacks on non-combatant (civilian and political) targets by non-state actors resulting in 15 or more deaths (Incident List)
| Date | Location | Deaths |
| 9 August 2002 | Jalalabad | 25 |
| 5 September 2002 | Kabul | 30 |
| 31 January 2003 |
Rambasa | 18 |
| 1 June 2005 | Kandahar | 21 |
| 16 January 2006 |
Spin Boldak |
24 |
| 3 August 2006 | Panjwayi | 2 |
| 28 August 2006 |
Lashkar Gah |
17 |
| 8 September 2006 | Kabul | 16 |
| 22 September 2006 | Kandahar | 19 |
| 26 September 2006 |
Lashkar Gah |
18 |
| 26 November 2006 |
Urgun | 15 |
| 27 February 2007 |
Bagram | 23 |
| 20 May 2007 |
Gardez | 15 |
| 17 June 2007 |
Kabul | 35 |
| 10 July 2007 |
Kandahar | 18 |
| 18 August 2007 |
Kandahar | 16 |
Insurgent Targets, 2002-2006
"[P]rimary targets included Afghan government officials, Afghan citizens,
NGOs, educational institutions, and religious figures. Schools were
increasingly targeted in such provinces as Helmand. As one Taliban
night letter warned: 'Teachers’ salaries are financed by non-believers.
Unless you stop getting wages from them, you will be counted among
the American puppets.' This rationale also included targeting
election candi-dates and members of parliament, since 'the elections are a part
of the American program” and those who participate in the
elections 'are the enemies of Islam and the homeland.'” 'Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan', RAND Corporation, 9 June 2008
