The following reports compile all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The toll here does not generally include claims of insurgents killed by the government, because of the difficulty of verifying such claims. Similarly, the reports do not include attacks on the government claimed by the Taliban. Both sides routinely inflate casualties of their opponents.

At least 37 pro-government forces and 48 civilians were killed in different attacks this week. Afghanistan saw a decrease in both Taliban attacks and pro-government-force casualties due to freezing temperatures during the night in most parts of the country. Civilians suffered the highest casualties this week when militants stormed Afghan government offices in Kabul after setting off a car bomb, killing at least 43 people.

[Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.]

Dec. 27 Helmand Province: two police officers killed

Two police officers were killed in a Taliban attack in Greshk District.

Dec. 27 Kunduz Province: one police officer killed