Civilian deaths in Afghanistan conflict reach their highest level in nine years

‘The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting’

MORE civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year than in any of the previous nine years of the bloody conflict, a United Nations report said.

The sharp rise in deaths was blamed on increased suicide bombings by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and increased aerial attacks by the Us-led coalition forces.

In its annual report, released yesterday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 3,804 civilians were killed in attacks last year, the highest number since records began in 2009. Another 7,189 were wounded.

The report comes amid efforts to find a peaceful end to the 17-year war, which have taken on greater urgency since the appointment in September of Zalmay Khalilzad, the US peace envoy, who is to begin another round of talks with the Taliban today in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, a UN envoy, called the spiralling number of civilian casualties “deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable”.

He said: “It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy.

“The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting. That is why there is all the more need now to use all our efforts to bring about peace.”

But Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, rejected the UN report, blaming most of the deaths on “blind US bombardments”.

According to the UN, 63 per cent of all civilian casualties were caused by insurgents. Its casualty breakdown blamed the Taliban for 37 per cent of the dead and wounded, Isil for 20 per cent, and a collection of other anti-government groups for the remaining 6 per cent.

The government and its US and Nato allies were blamed for 24 per cent of the dead and wounded civilians caught in the crossfire after aerial attacks were stepped up.

The US and the Taliban have openly embraced a strategy of talking while fighting, with the Taliban carrying out near-daily attacks on Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces.

Marathon talks held in Doha last month stoked hopes of a breakthrough after the two sides walked away with a “draft framework” that included a Taliban commitment to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for international terror groups.