Afghan death toll increasing

JIHADI BOMBINGS ARE MAIN CAUSE Rise in number of US air strikes leads to militants killing close to 150 in few weeks.

More than 10 000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in violence last year, the United Nations said yesterday, with militant bombings the main cause while air strikes by US and government forces inflicted a rising toll.

US President Donald Trump introduced a more aggressive US strategy in Afghanistan in August, including a surge in air strikes. The militants have responded with attacks in Kabul in the past few weeks, killing close to 150 people.

The overall civilian toll last year of 3 438 killed and 7 015 wounded was 9% lower than the previous year. But the figures highlighted the high number of casualties caused by militant bombs, the UN said. “Attacks where antigovernment elements deliberately targeted civilians accounted for 27% of the total civilian casualties ... mainly from suicide and complex attacks.”

The deadliest attack since the UN mission began recording civilian casualties in 2009 was in Kabul on May 31, when a suicide attacker detonated a truck bomb, killing 92 civilians and injuring 491.

Two-thirds of all casualties last year were inflicted by antigovernment forces, with the Taliban responsible for 42%, Islamic State 10% and 13% caused by undetermined antigovernment elements. Pro-government forces caused a fifth of civilian casualties, with 16% attributed to Afghan forces, 2% to international forces and 1% each to pro-government armed groups and undetermined pro-government forces, the UN said. The air campaign by international and government forces accounted for 6% of civilian casualties in 2017, with 295 people killed and 336 wounded, a 7% increase over 2016.

The toll from ground clashes was 19% lower than in 2016.

“Civilians have been killed going about their daily lives – travelling on a bus, praying in a mosque, walking past a building that was targeted,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said. “Such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and are likely to constitute war crimes. The perpetrators must be held accountable.” –

The perpetrators must be held accountable.