The “calm period” for the Afghan war appears to have taken place between late 2011 and early 2012, ending around the start of summer of last year. Since then, deaths have been significantly rising once again, with a 20 percent spike between the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012.

The UN report detailing the death toll also showed an alarming increase in the number of US and NATO drone strikes against Afghanistan, as well as a dramatic rise in the number of civilians killed in those strikes.

Though drones remain a relatively small-scale killer of Afghan civilians compared to manned air strikes, night raids and IEDs, drone use in the war zone has been trending upward every year since President Obama took office, and nearly doubled in 2012. The eagerness to escalate the drone program points at this toll being set to explode in coming years.