It establishes him as a reliable source for verification of civilian casualties, even relied on and confirmed by the U.N.<p>From the director of strategic communications, UNAMA: &quot;Verification of civilian casualties is a painstaking, long and often extremely difficult and sensitive process, involving multiple sources and sometimes conflicting data and reports.&quot;<p>What he said is an understatement. The 2011 casualty numbers for aerial strikes in Afghanistan started at 305 at end of 2011, rose to 353 by end of 2012 and then rose to 415 by end of 2014.  It took four years to get to that &quot;415&quot; number and this highlights that it can take years to get accurate counts.  This year&#x27;s UNAMA report, due soon, is bound to raise this number.