1 692 Civilians Killed, 3 430 Wounded during first Six Months of 2018: UNAMA
The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first six months of 2018, UN figures showed Sunday, with militant attacks and suicide bombs the leading causes of death.
The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first six months of 2018, UN figures showed Sunday, with militant attacks and suicide bombs the leading causes of death.
The toll of 1,692 fatalities was one per cent more than a year earlier and the highest for the period since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began keeping records in 2009.
Another 3,430 people were wounded in the war, down five percent from the same period last year, the report said.
Overall civilian casualties — 5,122 – fell three percent year on year.
Suicide bombs and “complex” attacks that involve several militants accounted for 1,413 casualties — 427 deaths and 986 injuries — up 22 per cent from a year earlier.
If that trend continues, the figure will top the 2017 full-year record of nearly 2,300 casualties, the report added.
UNAMA attributed 52 percent of suicide and complex attacks to IS, mainly in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar where the group established a stronghold after emerging in Afghanistan in 2014.
The Taliban was responsible for 40 percent of such attacks.
The report, which looked at civilian casualties during the 10-year period from 2009 to 2018, indicate that 14,720 were killed and 27,564 were injured.
A total of 42,284 people were killed and injured in the past 10-year.
