The U.S. military in Afghanistan has reduced the number of airstrikes it carried out over the past year, in a reflection of changing tactics and worries about civilian casualties.

According to USA Today, the overall tonnage of munitions dropped from fixed-wing aircraft over Afghanistan went down by 33 percent over the past year.

From 2004 to 2007, the overall tonnage had increased by more 1,100 percent, the newspaper reported.

The figures are based on information from the Air Force.

According to that data, 163 tons of munitions were dropped in 2004; by 2007, it had risen to 1,956 tons. For 2008, the number fell to 1,314 tons.

USA Today quoted Dakota Wood, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, as saying the decrease amounted to a recognition by military commanders of the limitations of air power against an insurgency.

In September, after several high-profile incidents in which airstrikes killed civilians, the U.S. military tightened regulations on dropping bombs.

Meanwhile, the paper also reported that between October 2008 and January 2009, only 2 tons of bombs had been dropped over Iraq.

Overall since 2001, the Air Force has dropped 14,049 tons of bombs in Afghanistan and 18,858 tons of bombs in Iraq.

Migrated