Civilian death toll rises dramatically in Afghan war

KABUL: Civilians are bearing the brunt of the 13-year-old war in Afghanistan, with casualties rising significantly due to increased fighting, the UN said yesterday.

More than 10 000 civilian casualties were recorded last year, an increase of 22 per cent from the previous year, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.

The world body registered 3 699 civilian deaths and 6 849 wounded, the highest numbers in a single year since 2009.

“In 2014, the conflict in Afghanistan took an extremely heavy toll on civilians,” said Nicholas Haysom, the UN secretary- general’s special representative for Afghanistan. “Rising civilian deaths and injuries in 2014 attest to a failure to fulfil commitments to protect Afghan civilians from harm,” he said in Kabul.

The UN accused combatants of increasingly using “explosive weapons systems such as mortars, rockets and grenades, sometimes indiscriminately”, even in civilian-populated areas.

Haysom called the levels of violence in 2014 “appalling”.

The world body found that more civilians were killed or injured due to ground fighting than by homemade bombs or any other tactic. In previous years, roadside bombs claimed most casualties.

Ground combat often occurred in populated areas, the UN said. Haysom said it was “the consequence of the changing dynamics of the conflict”.

The UN attributed 72 percent of the overall civilian casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

In December, the Nato-led coalition withdrew troops from Afghanistan, but left a smaller contingent to train and advise Afghan government forces. – Sapa-dpa