Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, January 2009

Published January 2009

The January 2009 update of this Department of Defense publication covers the period through October 2008. The summary states,

"The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in several areas of the country since the last report. The spring and summer of 2008 saw the highest levels of violence since the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) began their involvement in Afghanistan. Violence is concentrated in the south of the country (the historic heartland of the Taliban) and the east of the country, the area most vulnerable to cross-border activity from neighboring Pakistan. The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and has coalesced into a resilient and evolving insurgency. The insurgents are challenging the control of the GIRoA in areas of the south and the east, and increasingly in the west. Between January and December 10 2008, 132 U.S. personnel died as the result of hostile action, up from 82 in 2007. In 2007, 199 international personnel were killed. Between January and October of 2008 insurgent action resulted in the deaths of 265 coalition forces. Insurgent violence increased in the spring and summer of 2008 by 40 percent, most visibly in the form of asymmetric attacks as Afghan and international forces’ pressure forced the insurgents to shift the majority of their effort to targeting police and civilians, resulting in an increasing sense of personal insecurity among the populace. According to ISAF, insurgent-initiated attacks increased 33 percent for the whole of 2008. The 2008 ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) military campaign has caused setbacks to the Afghan insurgency, including leadership losses and the loss of some key safe havens in Afghanistan. Despite these setbacks, the insurgency has maintained and in some areas increased the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings. The increase in insurgent-initiated violence in Afghanistan relates directly to the perceived ineffectiveness of the government, the availability of safe havens in western Pakistan, and increased ISAF presence in former insurgent-controlled areas."

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