UN: Afghan civilian casualties down 15% last year

The number of civilians killed and wounded in violence across Afghanistan fell 15% last year compared to 2019, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) attributed the drop in civilian casualties in part to an apparent tactical change by insurgents to targeted killings, fewer suicide bombings, and a stark drop in casualties attributed to international military forces.

Still, Afghanistan remains among the deadliest places in the world to be a civilian.  A distressing feature of the conflict remains the disproportionate impact on Afghan women and children, who make up almost half of all casualties. "We reiterate in the report that the only way to protect civilians is to end the fighting and we urge parties to adopt a humanitarian ceasefire," said UNAMA Human Rights Director Fiona Frazer on Tuesday as the report was released.

The attacks targeting civilians include assaults on members of the judiciary, media and activists. Also targeted have been religious minorities, especially the Shiite Muslim population, most of whom also belong to the Hazara ethnic group, and the Sikh population. The overall number of civilian casualties in 2020 was 8,820. Of this number, 3,035 people were killed.

The report said almost two thirds of the casualties were caused by anti-government forces, predominantly the Taliban. Most of the others were caused by pro-government forces, mainly the Afghan national security force. Afghanistan has seen a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings and violence on the battlefield as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled. It's been over a month since the sides last met to discuss how to proceed. 

(Image Credits: AP)