UN: Up to 380 civilians killed in Afghan violence this year
Up to 380 Afghan civilians have been killed in fighting between Taliban insurgents and Afghan and international forces this year, the
United Nations said Monday.
“In the first four months of the year there were in the range of 320 to 380 civilians killed,” said Richard Bennett, human rights chief at the UN mission here.
The figures included those killed by international troops and by Taliban attacks, including suicide bombings.
Hundreds more were wounded, he told a news conference in Kabul.
“In addition to deaths and injuries, civilians are affected in many other ways: they are forced to become IDPs (internally displaced persons) and their properties have been destroyed,” Bennett added.
Bennett stressed that, besides increased US and
NATO-led operations against insurgents, Taliban attacks had risen this year compared with 2006.
“To take one example, in March and April this year there were 37 suicide bombings — last year in the same period there were 23,” he said.
Bennett said that the UN mission had stepped up efforts to protect civilians and planned a conference in August with Afghan and foreign forces as well as community leaders of the violence-plagued regions.
“The conference will bring together the government of
Afghanistan together with Afghan and international forces … including community representatives to look at ways to ensure the safety and welfare of all communities,” he said.
He said consultations with community leaders in the southern and eastern regions, where Taliban militants are most active, had already began.
Bennett called on all parties to avoid civilian deaths while battling each other.
“International humanitarian law is clear — the safety of civilians must come first and foremost,” he added.
Bennett’s comments came after UN and Afghan government investigators found last month that more than 50 Afghan civilians including women and children were killed in US-led raids on the Taliban in the western province of Herat.
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