WASHINGTON: The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline in Taliban attacks last year, and officials said on Tuesday that there was actually no change in the number of attacks on international troops from 2011 to 2012.

The corrected numbers — from the original reports of a 7 per cent decline to one of no change — could undercut the narrative promoted by the international coalition and the Obama administration of an insurgency in steep decline.

A coalition spokesman, Jamie Graybeal, attributed the miscounting to clerical errors and said the problem does not change officials’ basic assessment of the war.

The 7 per cent figure had been included in a report posted on the coalition’s website in late January as part of its monthly update on trends in security and violence. It was removed from the website recently without explanation. After the AP asked last week about the missing report, officials said they were correcting the data and would re-publish the report in coming days.—AP