US-led coalition sees lower casualties in 2013 as Afghan forces take lead in fighting

A U.S. military wrecker carries away a vehicle that was destroyed in a suicide car bomb attack on the Jalalabad-Kabul road in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says several service members were killed Friday when a suicide car bomber attacked their convoy in an eastern district of the capital, Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

Afghan women walk past the palace of the late King Amanullah Khan, which was destroyed during the civil war in early 1990s, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 30, 2013. Kabul has been experiencing below freezing weather and snow. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

An Associated Press tally shows that in 2013, the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan suffered the lowest number of casualties in the past six years.

At the same time, casualties among Afghan troops rose significantly as they took the lead in the 12-year war against the Taliban.

The figures underline the dangers this nation still faces as the NATO-led mission nears its end chapter in Afghanistan in 2014.

According to the AP tally, NATO casualties fell to 151 in 2013, down from 394 a year earlier.

However, foreign troops are still targeted by insurgents. Just last week, a suicide bomber struck a convoy in the capital, Kabul, killing three NATO troops, including one American.

Casualties among the Afghan army and police rose to 2,767, up from 1,870 the year before.