The U.S. has had a military presence in Afghanistan for the past 16 years. At its peak in 2011, there were 100,000 U.S. and allied troops there, but now there are fewer than 10,000. But that could change. In an address to the nation, President Donald Trump unveiled his plans for the U.S. role in Afghanistan moving forward. He did not specify the number of troops he’d send over, but some reports have said at least as many as 3,500 additional U.S. troops could be sent.
Number of U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
In 2011, President Barack Obama increased the number of troops from 30,000 to 100,000 in an effort to combat the Taliban and stabilize the Afghan government. The plan was to scale back the number of boots on the ground and end U.S. involvement in the region by 2014. But as of March 2017, there were 8,400 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan.
100K
Obama ramped up the number of U.S. troops from 30,000 to 100,000 in 2011
80
60
40
Trump may send at least 3,500 more troops
20
2001
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
’15
’17
’18
Bush
Obama
Trump
100K
Obama ramped up the number of U.S. troops from 30,000 to 100,000 in 2011
80
60
Trump may send at least 3,500 more troops
40
20
2001
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
’15
’17
’18
Bush
Obama
Trump
100K
Obama ramped up the number of U.S. troops from 30,000 to 100,000 in 2011
80
60
40
20
Trump may send at least 3,500 more troops
2001
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
’15
’17
’18
Bush
Obama
Trump
U.S. and allied troop fatalities since 2001
In the 16 years that the U.S. and its allies have fought in Afghanistan, nearly 3,500 military personnel have died. The deadliest month for U.S. fatalities was August 2011, when 71 American were killed in both hostile attacks and non-hostile incidents. In total, 711 U.S. and allied service members died in 2010, making it the deadliest year of the operation.
100
103 deaths
in June 2010
for U.S. and
its allies
80
Allied
fatalities
71 U.S. fatalities
in August 2011
60
40
20
U.S. fatalities
Total
fatalities
2001
’02
’03
’04
’05
’06
’07
’08
’09
’10
’11
’12
’13
’14
’15
’16
2017
12
69
57
60
131
191
232
295
514
711
566
400
161
75
27
16
2
100
103 deaths
in June 2010
for U.S. and
its allies
80
71 U.S. fatalities
in August 2011
60
Grey bars represent ally
fatalities
40
Orange bars represent U.S. fatalities
20
Total
fatalities
2001
’02
’03
’04
’05
’06
’07
’08
’09
’10
’11
’12
’13
’14
’15
’16
2017
12
69
57
60
131
191
232
295
514
711
566
400
161
75
27
16
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
2001
’02
’03
Orange bars represent U.S. fatalities
’04
’05
’06
’07
103 deaths
in June 2010
for U.S. and
its allies
’08
’09
’10
’11
71 U.S. fatalitie in August 2011
’12
’13
Grey bars represent ally fatalities
’14
’15
’16
‘17
Data is from the Brookings Afghanistan Index. Some of the U.S. and allied troop fatalities occurred outside of Afghanistan in other countries associated with the Operation Enduring Freedom. As of May 25, 2017, there have been at least 2,262 U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan.