Afghanistan: Reported US covert actions 2018

The timeline below contains information on all US air attacks on Afghanistan recorded by the Bureau in 2018. It is updated with the latest US air attacks. We also log Afghan Air Force attacks when they are reported. The Bureau collects information on the US and Afghan strikes and the people they kill from local and international media reports – including the Bureau’s own field investigations – as well as academics and NGOs that cite US, Afghan and Pakistani civil, military and intelligence officials, and witnesses and local people in the affected areas.

Please note that our data changes according to our current understanding of particular strikes. The information below represents our present best estimate.

Background

US aircraft have been bombing Afghanistan since late 2001 and the airstrikes have continued into the Trump administration. Up until December 2014 the US was operating in concert with its allies in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force. Now it is just the US, and the Afghans, flying strike missions in the country.

The Bureau began tracking the strikes from January 1 2015 onwards, when the US and Nato’s combat mission in Afghanistan came to an end. The Afghan military and police took the lead in fighting the Taliban with the US and its international partners moving into a non-combat “train, advise, assist” role, supporting local forces.

US air forces are still flying combat missions however. There are three targeting authorities that govern the kind of strikes the US can conduct in Afghanistan.

Force protection strikes are intended to protect friendly ground forces who are under attack, or are about to be attacked. From January 1 2015 the US was supposed to stop deliberately going after the Taliban, leaving that to the Afghans. But in June 2016, with the Taliban pushing the Afghan forces to breaking point, the US went on the offensive against the Taliban, under “strategic effect” strikes.

The third authority governs the US’s counter-terrorism strikes, part of its offensive operations against al Qaeda and, since January 2016, Afghanistan’s Islamic State offshoot.

Full data

The Bureau publishes a narrative timeline of US strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen each year. Links for all other timelines can be found here.

We also publish spreadsheets detailing casualty numbers in each country. You can download the entire Afghanistan sheet here.

Reported US strikes, Afghanistan 2018
Strikes recorded by the Bureau
Total reported strikes 1985-1986
Total reported killed 767-1060
Civilians reported killed 92-163
Children reported killed 14-51
Total reported injured 106-166
US Air Force reported air operations, Afghanistan 2018
Total Close Air Support (CAS) sorties with at least one weapon release 783
Total CAS sorties 6,584
Total weapons released 5982

Strikes Page 2

AFG1126 link

22 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Five strikes hit Kandahar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1125 link

22 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1124 link

22 December 2018

  • 0-4 reported killed

A US strike hit Farah province on this day, according to US data.

Khaama Press had reported that at least four militants were killed in a US drone strike in Farah province. It was not clear when that reported strike took place, although the statement was released on December 22.

Their information came from a statement released by the 207th Zafar Corps, which is part of the Afghan army. According to the statement, the strike destroyed a vehicle, a machine gun, a sniper rifle, and three AK-47s.

We will record a range for the death toll to reflect the possibility the reported strike is the same as the confirmed US strike

AFG1123 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Nangarhar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1122 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Logar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1121 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1120 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Ghazni province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1119 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Faryab province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1118 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Farah province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1117 link

21 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Daykundi province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1116 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Three strikes hit Nangarhar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1115 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Parwan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1114 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Paktika province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1113 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1112 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Ghazni province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1111 link

20 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Farah province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1110 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Uruzgan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1109 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Parwan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1108 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Nimroz province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1107 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Nangarhar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1106 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Laghman province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1105 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1104 link

19 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Balkh province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1103C link

19 December 2018

  • 13 reported killed

A US drone strike killed 13 people belonging to an unspecified militant group in Paktia province, according to a statement from the Afghan army's 203rd Thunder Corps reported on by Khaama Press. One of the group's local leader was reportedly among the dead.

The statement added that a 4x4 vehicle was destroyed in the strike.

The sourcing is too vague to record this as a confirmed US strike. To read more on this, click here. It was also not clear when the strike took place, although it was reported on December 19.

  • Type of strike: Possible US strike
  • Location: Dor Lalai Tangi area, Aryoub Zazai district, Paktia province
  • References: Khaama Press

AFG1103 link

18 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Uruzgan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1102 link

18 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Nimroz province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1101 link

18 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1100 link

18 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Faryab province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1099 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Parwan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1098 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Paktika province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1097 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Five strikes hit Nangarhar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1096 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Logar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1095 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Five strikes hit Kandahar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1094 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1093 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Ghazni province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1092 link

17 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Faryab province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1091C link

17 December 2018

  • 5 reported killed

A prominent Taliban leader in Herat was killed in a drone strike alongside four other insurgents, according to Jilani Farhad, the provincial governor's spokesperson.

The leader, named as Mullah Sakhi, was said by Farhad to be the Taliban's shadow education director in Herat and the shadow district chief for the province's Farsi district.

The US in the only known country to be flying armed drones in Afghanistan.

It was not clear when the strike took place, although it was reported on December 17.

  • Type of strike: US air or drone strike
  • Location: Farsi district, Herat province
  • References: Khaama Press

AFG1091 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Parwan province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1090 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Paktika province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1089 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Logar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1088 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Three strikes hit Kunar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1087 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Kapisa province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1086 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Kandahar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1085 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Herat province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1084 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1083 link

16 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

One strike hit Ghazni province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1082 link

15 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

A strike hit Paktia province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1081 link

15 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Paktika province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1080 link

15 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Four strikes hit Nangarhar province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.

AFG1079 link

15 December 2018

  • Unknown casualties

Two strikes hit Helmand province on this day, according to data from US Forces - Afghanistan.

No further details were given. To see more about the release of this data, click here.