Afghan civilian toll rises due to insurgent attacks: UN

Afghan civilian toll rises due to insurgent attacks: UN

The number of civilians killed or injured in Afghanistan has jumped 31%, despite a fall in the number of casualties caused by Nato-led forces.




More than 1,200 civilians were killed in the first six months of 2010 and another 1,997 civilians were injured, the latest UN six-monthly report shows.
The Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 76% of the casualties, up from 53% last year.

With overall numbers up, correspondents say Afghans feel less secure than ever.

Public executions According to the UN report, 176 children were killed and 389 injured in the first six months of 2010, up 55% compared with the same period last year.
Most of the casualties were caused by larger and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by insurgents throughout the country.
The report noted that the number of civilians executed by insurgents also rose by 95%, especially in the southern part of the country, and included the public executions of children.
"This intensified pattern of assassinations and executions reinforced the widespread perception of Afghan civilians that they are becoming more and more the primary target in this period of conflict," said Staffan de Mistura, special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) called on the Taliban to end their use of IEDs and suicide attacks, and to stop the execution and abduction of citizens.
In an attempt to avoid alienating the civilian population, the Taliban has already issued a "code of conduct" which forbids their fighters from seizing weapons and money.
Aerial strikes The number of casualties caused by international and Afghan forces fell 30% during the same period to 12% or 386 civilian casualties, the UN figures show.
The decline was driven by a 64% fall in deaths and injuries caused by aerial attacks, which remain the deadliest tactic used by the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), the UN said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly warned Western powers that civilian deaths caused by Nato attacks help to fuel the insurgency.
The US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, said earlier this month: "Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause."
Shortly afterwards, a Nato airstrike killed up to 25 Afghans travelling to a funeral in Nangarhar province.
In 2009, former Nato commander Gen Stanley McChrystal issued instructions severely limiting the circumstances in which troops could call in an airstrike or fire into buildings.
His successor, Gen Petraeus, has vowed to carry on with the policy.
In July, the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks leaked a swathe of documents relating to the Afghan war, which suggested that many civilian casualties were going unreported.
A UN report in January showed that civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict had risen by 14% in 2009 compared with 2008.
It said the "vast majority" of the more than 2,400 deaths had been caused by Taliban attacks.