Sharp rise in children killed and maimed in Afghan war, UN report reveals
AFGHANISTAN - The number of children killed and maimed in the Afghan war increased dramatically last year, according to the UN, which has documented the highest civilian casualty toll in the country since 2001. In a report released on Monday, the UN documented a 3% increase since 2015. “It is about time the various parties to the conflict ceased the relentless commission of war crimes and thought about the harm they are doing to their mothers, fathers, children and future generations by continuing to fuel this senseless, never-ending conflict,” said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights.
Aside from documenting the toll, the UN numbers reflect a changing war dynamic. Since 2014, international forces have largely withdrawn from the battlefield and fighting has moved into villages and closer to cities. The leading cause of casualties is ground engagements. The Taliban control or contest 97 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, according to the Long War Journal.
The battle for territory leaves another hazard in its wake: unexploded ammunition. The UN said 86% of casualties sustained by unexploded ordnance were children, with 183 killed and 426 injured, often when collecting scrap metal, tending to livestock or playing. Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, remain a severe danger. The UN documented a growing use of pressure-plate IEDs, which are indiscriminate and placed by militants leaving an occupied area but often end up harming returning, displaced families.
Small militant groups loyal to Islamic State (Isis) present a new type of danger to Afghan civilians. Three attacks in Kabul killed more than 100 people and targeted members of Afghanistan’s Shia minority, prompting the UN, for the first time in this type of report, to condemn possible “crimes against humanity”. With the Taliban gaining ground and Isis digging in, the US upped airstrikes, from 947 in 2015 to 1,337 in 2016. As a result, the number of harmed civilians doubled, with international airstrikes accounting for about half of the casualties. While the international coalition accounted for only 2% of civilian casualties overall, it was behind some of the worst single incidents.
(TheGuardian.com)