ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN —
Hostilities in Afghanistan have left around 30,000 people dead and as many wounded, mostly insurgents, according to the latest official estimates.
As of Sunday, counter-insurgency operations conducted by Afghan police and military forces around the country had left more than 18,500 “enemy” fighters dead and wounded 12,000 more, according to defense and interior ministry officials.
Mohammad Radmanesh, the deputy defense ministry spokesman, told VOA that authorities have also captured hundreds of insurgents.
He declined to discuss casualties among the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces, or ANDSF, but admitted they “increased by more than 10 percent compared to the previous year.”