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UN Says Afghan Civilian Casualties Near Record High
| Wall Street Journal | - |
KABUL—Civilian
casualties in Afghanistan are headed toward a record high this year, a
United Nations report said, as conflict in the country continues to
intensify 15 years after the U.S.
U.N. Says Afghan Civilian Casualties Near Record High
Conflict in the country continues to intensify 15 years after the U.S.-led invasion
ENLARGE
Afghan police stand
guard after Taliban militants attacked an oil tanker carrying supplies
for the NATO soldiers. The Taliban and its allies continue to cause the
majority of casualties, the U.N. said.
Photo:
European Pressphoto Agency
The U.N. recorded 1,601 civilian deaths and another 3,565 injuries in the first six months of 2016, a 4% increase in total casualties from the same period the previous year, it said in the report released Monday. Almost a third of those killed or wounded were children, it said.
The rise in casualties was driven by an increase in fighting around heavily populated areas in provinces that are teetering toward Taliban control, including Helmand, where the U.S. has deployed additional forces, and Kunduz, whose capital briefly fell to the insurgents last year.
The U.N. report documents all casualties caused by forces loyal to the Afghan government, which is backed by a U.S.-led coalition that remains in the country, and the Taliban, which has waged an increasingly deadly insurgency since 2001.
The rise reflects a failure by all parties in the conflict to honor commitments to protect civilians, the U.N.’s top representative in Afghanistan said, urging them to do more to reduce casualties.
“Platitudes not backed by meaningful action ring hollow over time,” Tadamichi Yamamoto said. “History and the long memory of the Afghan people will judge leaders of all parties to this conflict not by their well-meaning words, but by their conduct.”
Efforts to negotiate peace have been largely abandoned this year amid an escalation in Taliban attacks on government targets, seemingly leaving an end to the conflict more remote than ever.
Combat between insurgent and pro-government forces continued to cause the highest number of casualties, with figures rising to 549 deaths and 1,423 injuries, up 23% from the previous year.
Suicide attacks and complex attacks have become the second-leading cause of casualties, the U.N. said. They are taking a disproportionate toll on Afghan civilians in Kabul, where the deadliest attacks have taken place.
The Afghan capital in April suffered one of its worst attacks since 2001 when a suicide bomber detonated a large vehicle packed with explosives at a security agency building in the center of town, killing 64 people and wounding some 350 others.
The Taliban and its allies continue to cause the majority of casualties, the U.N. said, but an increasing number of civilians are also being wounded or killed by pro-government forces.
It said the Taliban were responsible for 60% of the total. That figure is an 11% decrease from last year, reflecting a reduction in the group’s use of pressure plate bombs and fewer targeted killings.
The Taliban didn’t immediately comment on the report.
Pro-government forces caused 1,180 civilian casualties, the U.N. said, a 47% increase from 2015. The rise was linked to an increasing number of security operations and the growing use of explosive weapons like artillery, mortars and rockets.
The expansion of operations by the Afghan air force also contributed to the rise, the report said, with deaths and injuries caused by Afghan airstrikes more than doubling to 111 casualties. Another 50 casualties were attributed to U.S. airstrikes.
The U.N. also signaled concern over the government’s use of militia groups instead of the army and police. It said such groups act outside the law in some provinces and were protected from punishment by powerful individuals.
Write to Jessica Donati at Jessica.Donati@wsj.com
