Afghan war has claimed 241,000 lives, costs $2 trillion: Study

KABUL (Pajhwok): The conflict in Afghanistan has killed 241,000 people, including Americans, says a study released on Friday.

Operations Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support in Afghanistan had accounted for $2 trillion, said the report, detailing the most recent estimates.

Most of the money came out of $933 billion in the Pentagon’s overseas contingency funding, said the study by the Costs of War Project.

The report estimates 241,000 people had died as a direct result of the two decades of war, including at least 71,344 civilians; 2,442 American service members; 78,314 Afghan military and police; and 84,191 militants.

Catherine Lutz, co-director of Costs of War and professor at Brown University, remarked: “These horrific numbers are testament to the costs of war, first to the Afghan people, and then to the soldiers and people of the United States.”

The money spent includes an increase of $443 billion in the Pentagon’s base budget to support the war, $296 billion to care for veterans, $530 billion to cover the interest on the money borrowed to fund the military deployments and $59 billion in overseas contingency funds.

Launched a decade ago, the Costs of War Project seeks to document the “unacknowledged costs” of the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his administration would bring home the remaining 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan by a Sept. 11.

PAN Monitor/mud