Afghan Civilian Deaths Up by 11 percent in 2018: UNAMA
More civilians were killed in the Afghan conflict last year than at any time since records have been kept, according to a United Nations report released today by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office.
More civilians were killed in the Afghan conflict last year than at any time since records have been kept, according to a United Nations report released today by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office.
The report documented 3,804 civilian deaths in 2018. Among the dead were 927 children, the highest recorded number of boys and girls killed in the conflict during a single year.
In total, UNAMA documented 10,993 civilian casualties (3,804 deaths and 7,189 injured), representing a five per cent increase in overall civilian casualties and an 11 per cent increase in civilian deaths compared to 2017.
UNAMA attributed the majority of civilian casualties –63 per cent– to Anti-Government Elements (AGEs), 37 per cent to Taliban, 20 per cent to Daesh/Islamic State Khorosan Province (ISKP), and 6 per cent to undetermined AGEs. Pro-Government Forces caused 24 per cent of civilian casualties –14 per cent by Afghan national security forces, six per cent by international military forces, as well as four per cent by other pro-Government armed groups and forces.
In 2018, international military forces were responsible for 674 civilian casualties (406 deaths and 268 injured), 94 per cent of which resulted from aerial operations.
Anti-Government Elements carried out 65 suicide and complex attacks in 2018. UNAMA attributed 21 of the attacks to Taliban, which caused 642 civilian casualties.
“The report’s rigorously researched findings show that the level of harm and suffering inflicted on civilians in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. “All parties need to take immediate and additional concrete steps to stop a further escalation in the number of civilians harmed and lives destroyed.”
Yamamoto, who also heads UNAMA added, “more than 32,000 civilians killed and around 60,000 injured in a decade. It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy. The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting”.
