Civilian deaths (2,412) were up 14 percent last year. The increase was entirely due to many more Taliban attacks on civilians. Taliban activity accounted for 70 percent of the civilian deaths. A quarter of the civilian deaths were caused by government forces or foreign troops (who killed 30 percent fewer civilians last year, than the year before.) The Taliban media campaign has tried to demonize smart bombs, which are the most effective weapon against the Taliban. Such bombs accounted for 15 percent of civilian deaths, and most of the ones that grab headlines. Smart bombs cause about 60 percent of civilian deaths caused by government and foreign troops.
The Taliban also know that more American troops are on the way. The American tactics of spreading these new troops out, in territory the Taliban thought they controlled, has worked. The Taliban are searching for new ideas, because without much support from the population, and an enemy you cannot defeat in combat, the prospects don't look so good. Thus the Taliban are increasing their Information War efforts, by planting more atrocity stories (some invented, some taking actual incidents and altering them). This obviously works. While the Taliban kill five times as many civilians as government and foreign troops, most of the media coverage is of Afghans killed by foreigners. |