Afghanistan's Military Is Suffering Devastating Casualties

Last week in Davos, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that more than 45,000 members of his country's security forces had been killed since he took office in September 2014. He said that the total number of international casualties was just 72 by comparison, "illustrating who is doing the fighting".

The devastating figure is much higher than previously thought and it comes amid top-level talks between the U.S. and representatives from the Taliban. Ghani's decision to reveal the casualties is unusual and it equates to nearly 30 deaths every day. Earlier this month, over 40 Afghan troops were killed in a Taliban attack on an intelligence training centre 30 miles from Kabul.