NOVANEWS
Painting a bleak picture in the divided country, a U.N. report said civilian deaths increased by 22 percent between 2013 and 2014. | Photo: Reuters
Children have been the worst affected by soaring rates of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
Over 10,000 civilians died in Afghanistan’s ongoing civil war in 2014, according to a grim United Nations report released Wednesday.
Despite claims from Washington that the U.S.-led occupation of Afghanistan has left behind a stable country, the U.N. report states the country’s decade-old conflict is only intensifying.
“In 2014, (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNMA) documented the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in a single year since it began systematically recording civilian casualties in 2009,” the report stated.
Painting a bleak picture in the divided country, the report said civilian deaths increased by 22 percent between 2013 and 2014. The report attributed the steady rise in civilian killings to “increased ground engagements” and the mushrooming use of heavy explosives such as mortars in civilian populated areas.
Among the victims, children accounted for 714 killed and 1,760 wounded – a 40 percent increase over the previous year.
At 72 percent, the vast majority of civilian deaths were blamed on “anti-government elements,” which includes the Taliban and other militant groups. Around 12 percent of casualties were caused by Afghan government security forces, while “international military forces” were responsible for 2 percent.
According to U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Nicholas Haysom, “Rising civilian deaths and injuries in 2014 attests to a failure to fulfil commitments to protect Afghan civilians from harm.”
“Parties to the conflict should understand the impact of their actions and take responsibility for them, uphold the values they claim to defend, and make protecting civilians their first priority,” Haysom stated.
More Afghanistan news:
27 Taliban Militants Killed by Afghan Military
Record Number of Landmine Clearer Deaths in Afghanistan in 2014
Despite claims from Washington that the U.S.-led occupation of Afghanistan has left behind a stable country, the U.N. report states the country’s decade-old conflict is only intensifying.
“In 2014, (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNMA) documented the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in a single year since it began systematically recording civilian casualties in 2009,” the report stated.
Painting a bleak picture in the divided country, the report said civilian deaths increased by 22 percent between 2013 and 2014. The report attributed the steady rise in civilian killings to “increased ground engagements” and the mushrooming use of heavy explosives such as mortars in civilian populated areas.
Among the victims, children accounted for 714 killed and 1,760 wounded – a 40 percent increase over the previous year.
At 72 percent, the vast majority of civilian deaths were blamed on “anti-government elements,” which includes the Taliban and other militant groups. Around 12 percent of casualties were caused by Afghan government security forces, while “international military forces” were responsible for 2 percent.
According to U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Nicholas Haysom, “Rising civilian deaths and injuries in 2014 attests to a failure to fulfil commitments to protect Afghan civilians from harm.”
“Parties to the conflict should understand the impact of their actions and take responsibility for them, uphold the values they claim to defend, and make protecting civilians their first priority,” Haysom stated.
More Afghanistan news:
27 Taliban Militants Killed by Afghan Military
Record Number of Landmine Clearer Deaths in Afghanistan in 2014
