Afghan commando Maj. Shoaib Moradef, 33, died on Sept. 2 in a military airplane accident in Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan. Courtesy of Shoaib Moradef
NPR: What 3 Deaths Among Thousands Tell Us About Afghanistan In 2018
In 2018, Afghanistan bled. Violence claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 civilians between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, the highest number in that same period since 2014. The death toll of Afghan security forces — which some estimates put at more than 9,000 this year, between 25 and 30 deaths a day — has been called "unsustainable" by the U.S. military.
The leading cause of civilian casualties was the use of improvised explosive devices, according to the U.N. There were suicide attacks and bombings at voting centers, schools and mosques. And there were U.S. airstrikes.
It all took place in this, the 17th year of America's longest war. U.S. combat troops have been in Afghanistan for nearly double the time they were in Vietnam. And the war has touched generations of Afghans.
Of the thousands of lives lost this year, three stand out. The lives and deaths of these three Afghan men help tell the story of Afghanistan and shed light on the challenges the U.S. faces there.
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WNU Editor: Wars always make people into brutal human beings, and the ones who are on the front lines never last long.
