More than 700 international troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2010, 498 of them Americans (LAT, Pajhwok). Nearly 1,300 Afghan policemen were killed last year, a decrease of seven percent over 2009, and civilian casualties went up 20 percent in the first ten months of 2010 over the same period in 2009 (Reuters, Tolo, Pajhwok, Post). On Christmas, top U.S. and NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus visited troops in Kabul, Kunduz, Farah, and Helmand, where the Journal reports that British troops are gaining confidence in Afghan security forces, often seen as feckless (AP, WSJ). Pajhwok reports that Taliban fighters, Afghan officials, and international forces have agreed on a cease-fire in Sangin district in Helmand (Pajhwok). And Afghan ethnic minorities express frustration with their under-representation at the officer ranks, which are dominated by Pashtuns and Tajiks, in Afghanistan’s security forces (AFP).

The Post has three reports on the Afghan war: one profiling the U.S. military hospital in Kandahar, which treats soldiers, civilians, and insurgents alike (Post); a second noting that the U.S. Army’s official history of the battle of Wanat — a July 2008 clash in Kunar that sparked four investigations — “largely absolves top commanders of the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers and instead blames the confusing and unpredictable nature of war” (Post); and a third looking at the U.S. presence in the Pech Valley, where the focus is on fighting such that “Afghan officials can figure out a way to coexist with a committed and ideological resistance” (Post). Read more at afpak.foreignpolicy.com