Since 2001, an estimated 40,000 people have died

Since 2001, an estimated 40,000 people have died in Afghanistan and the number keeps on rising daily. It is impossible to put an exact figure on the fatalities.

40,000 deaths may sound a lot, and indeed it is, but that number pales into insignificance when compared to other conflicts around the world.

For example, the civil war in Somalia from 1988 to 2004 claimed an estimated 550,000 lives.

The 1989 Liberia civil war claimed an estimated 220,000 lives and the 1991 to 1997 Congo civil war took over 800,000 lives.

The 1991 Gulf War claimed an estimated 85,000 lives; Sierra Leone's civil war from 1991 to 2000 took 200,000 lives, as did the 1991-2009 Russia-Chechnya war.

The Yugoslavian wars between 1992 and 1996 saw an estimated 260,000 fatalities. In Algeria the civil war between 1992 and 1992 claimed 150,000 lives.

Here's some more:

Tajikstan civil war (1992-1996) claimed 50,000 lives.

Burundi civil war (1993-2005) took over 200,000 lives.

Rwanda civil war (1994) took a staggering 900,000 lives.

Ethiopia-Eritrea war (1998-2000) claimed 75,000 lives.

Sudan-Darfur (2003-2009) took an estimated 300,000 lives.

Since 2003, the Iraqi civil war has seen an estimated 60,000 people killed.

However, compare all of the above to the Congo/Zaire conflict that began in 1998. So far, an estimated 3.8 MILLION people have died.