3,774 Civilian Casualties Documented since Taliban Takeover: UN
DID Press: The United Nations said Tuesday it has documented a significant level of civilians killed and wounded in attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
According to a new report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, since the takeover in mid-August 2021 and until the end of May, there were 3,774 civilian casualties, including 1,095 people killed in violence in the country.
According to the U.N. report, three-quarters of the attacks since the Taliban seized power were with improvised explosive devices in “populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets,” the report said. Among those killed were 92 women and 287 children.
The statement also said that at least 95 people were killed in attacks on schools, educational facilities and other places that targeted the predominantly Shiite Hazara community.
The statement said that the majority of the IED attacks were carried out by the region’s affiliate of the Islamic State group – known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province
“These attacks on civilians and civilian objects are reprehensible and must stop,” said Fiona Frazer, chief of UNAMA’s Human Rights Service. She urged the Taliban — the de facto authorities in Afghanistan — to “uphold their obligation to protect the right to life” of the Afghan people.
However, the U.N. report said a “significant number” of the deaths resulted from attacks that were never claimed or that the U.N. mission could not attribute to any group. It did not provide the number for those fatalities.
The report also expressed concern about “the lethality of suicide attacks” since the Taliban takeover, with fewer attacks causing more civilian causalities.
