KABUL - At least 2,214 people have been killed, most of them Afghans, in largely US-led projects to rebuild Afghanistan, a US government watchdog said in a report released on Tuesday.
The deaths happened as a result of Taliban and other militant attacks on reconstruction projects since 2002, US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, John F. Sopko said in the report.
“’For years, SIGAR has spent considerable effort to track the financial costs of reconstruction and stabilization activities in Afghanistan,” said Sopko in a preamble to the report. “However, little effort has been made up to now to track the human costs — the number of people killed, wounded, or kidnapped — to accomplish these activities.”
The deaths included 284 Americans, both civilian and military. Another 2,291 people were wounded, according to SIGAR.
The projects included road construction, counter-narcotics, governance, and demining.
The most dangerous job was road construction, which accounted for 30 percent of all casualties, according to the report.
SIGAR also said 1,182 people were either abducted or disappeared while on reconstruction jobs. (1TV NEWS)