A study by TOLOnews has found that in the month of December, military operations carried out by security forces decreased by 17 percent against November - the previous month.
 
Although Operation Shafaq 2 continued in December to eliminate insurgents, airstrikes by Afghan and foreign troops also decreased by 96 percent compared to November.
 
Ministry of Defense (MoD) however said they will implement plans they have drawn up to eradicate insurgents from the country.
 
“After December our operations decreased, because we were making preparations,” said Mohammad Radmanesh, deputy spokesman for the MoD.
 
According to TOLOnews’ findings, in this month Afghanistan witnessed more than 750 security incidents and three suicide attacks.
 
In December security forces launched 488 operations and 25 airstrikes were carried out by both Afghan forces and foreign troops.
 
According to the report, in December 2016, civilian causalities decreased by 31 percent against December 2015.
 
In this month, 87 civilians were killed and 110 others wounded.
 
Nangarhar, Kunduz, Kandahar, Faryab and Uruzgan are the provinces that witnessed the most security incidents and Bamiyan and Panjshir were the most secure provinces in December.
 
“Insurgents always attack and then withdraw and continue like this. Thus, air forces along with foreign troops should target insurgents’ strongholds from the air,” said Atiqullah Amarkhil, a former military officer.
 
Although war causalities have decreased by 33 percent, the recapture of regions under Taliban control are still counted as major obstacles in the way of security forces.