■ Troop levels: There are about 8,800 US soldiers in the country, along with 6,575 allied and NATO troops. About 3,300 of the US military personnel are believed to be Special Operations fighters.

US generals in Afghanistan have asked for several thousand more troops to help Afghan security forces contain the Taliban. That would still make the American military presence far smaller than at its peak of 100,000 soldiers under President Obama.

■ Taliban status: The Taliban now control or dominate 48 of the country’s roughly 400 administrative areas, the most they have held since being ousted from power in 2001, based on US military data.

The insurgents have had some setbacks. Two of the six locations that fell to the Taliban in the past month were taken back by the government. In addition, government forces in the southern province of Helmand retook Nawa district, which had long been held by the insurgents, in July.

■ Fighting levels: The tempo of fighting has greatly increased throughout Afghanistan this year, judging from the numbers of civilians and combatants killed. In the first half of 2017, civilians were dying at a rate of nine a day, according to UN data.

According to US and Afghan figures, about 31 Afghan combatants, including police officers, are being killed daily.

Last year, 6,000 Afghan soldiers were estimated to have been killed, according to senior military officials. That is far more than the roughly 3,500 fatalities sustained by US and coalition forces during the entire 16-year war, and Afghan soldiers’ reported death rate is running even higher this year.

Last week, the 11th US soldier died in Afghanistan this year. Most of those killed have been Special Forces or Special Operations soldiers.

SOURCE: New York Times