The civilian death toll in Afghanistan has risen by 24 per cent this year, the United Nations has said.
In a new report released on Friday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) blamed bombings by the Taliban and air raids by international forces for the majority of the killings.
The report said that 1,013 civilians were killed on the sidelines of their country’s armed conflict from January to the end of June, compared to 818 in the first half of 2008 and 684 in the same period in 2007
Commenting on the report, Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said it was critical that steps be taken to shield Afghan communities from fighting.
“All parties involved in this conflict should take all measures to protect civilians, and to ensure the independent investigation of all civilian casualties, as well as justice and remedies for the victims,” Pillay said.
James Bays, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Afghanistan, said: “This new report will be deeply controversial here. For many Afghans, this is a key political issue.
“The line that’s coming from the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and the US and their new commander here, General [Stanley] McChrystal, is that the success of their mission is not about killing Taliban, it’s about the number of Afghans who feel they are being protected.”
Erica Gaston, from the Open Society Institute in Afghanistan, agreed and told Al Jazeera that “civilian casualty losses colour Afghan impressions of international forces and the Afghan government”.
“Afghan people want protection and they want stability and if the international forces and Afghan government can’t deliver that, then they will turn to other political leaders,” she said.
Al-Jazeera
