KABUL, Jul 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan reached a record high, as the conflicts continued to escalate amid U.S. and NATO troops’ withdrawal, a UN report revealed today.
“Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 reached record levels, including a particularly sharp increase in killings and injuries since May, when international military forces began their withdrawal and the fighting intensified following the Taliban’s offensive,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said, in a report issued here.
The 2021 UNAMA’s Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Midyear Report found that, 1,659 civilians were killed, while 3,254 civilians were wounded in conflicts in the first six months of the year.
The figures showed a 47-percent increase in overall civilian casualties, including deaths and injuries, during the cited period, compared with the same period in 2020, according to the report.
“Particularly shocking and of deep concern is that women, boys and girls, made up close to half of all civilian casualties in the first half of 2021. Comprising 46 percent of all civilian casualties, 32 percent were children – 1,682 in total and 14 percent were women – 727 in total. It is sickening to report that more women and more children were killed and injured than ever before recorded by UNAMA for the first half of any calendar year,” the report said.
The leading causes of civilian casualties were the extensive use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by Taliban and other insurgents, ground engagements, targeted killings by anti-government elements, and air strikes by the Afghan Air Force respectively, according to the report.
The report attributed 64 percent of civilian casualties to Taliban and other militants, 25 percent to pro-government security forces, while 11 percent of all civilian casualties were attributed to crossfire during ground engagements, where the exact party responsible could not be determined, and other incident types.– NNN-AGENCIES
