New U.S. initiative in Afghanistan

The Trump administration is to announce a new Afghanistan strategy with a baseline cost of at least $23 billion a year, to boost U.S. troop numbers and fund Afghan forces and anti-corruption programmes

Taliban control

Taliban high support

Taliban low support

Apr 21, Mazar-i-Sharif: 140 Afghan soldiers killed and 160 wounded
in Taliban assault on army base

11% Insurgent control or influence (Feb 2017)

Herat

Lashkar Gah

AFGHANISTAN

Kandahar

Kunduz

Kabul

200km 125 miles

29% Contested districts

Apr 13, Nangarhar province: U.S. deploys GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb against so-called Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K). 94 IS-K fighters killed

Current military forces in Afghanistan 
U.S. troops in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel 8,300 
NATO allies and non-NATO partners 6,518
Afghan Army and Airforce (including civilians) 196,534
Afghan National Police 161,977
 
Taliban fighters (estimate) 60,000
IS-K fighters (estimate) 1,000

Afghan civilian casualties (Jan 2009- Mar 2017)

Killed 25,536
Wounded 46,499

Sources: SIGAR report to U.S. Congress, UNAMA, Institute for the Study of War