Civilian deaths in Afghanistan hit record high in 2018: UN

A United Nations (UN) report says more civilians lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan in 2018 than any other year on record, nearly 18 years into a United States-led invasion and ongoing occupation.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report on Sunday that civilian deaths in 2018 jumped by 11 percent from 2017, with 3,804 people killed, including 927 children, both all-time highs since the international organization started recording figures in 2009.

“In total, UNAMA documented 10,993 civilian casualties (3,804 deaths and 7,189 injured), representing a five-percent increase in overall civilian casualties and an 11-percent increase in civilian deaths compared to 2017,” the report said. 

The mission blamed the spike in deaths on increased aerial attacks by US-led coalition forces and bombings by militant groups.

At least 65 attacks were recorded in 2018, with militants responsible for the death of more than 2,200 civilians across the country. 

The uptick in violence in 2018 was caused by the “deliberate targeting of civilians,” mostly stemming from attacks by militants allied with the Taliban or the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, the report said. 

An increase in airstrikes by US-led and Afghan forces also led to the higher civilian deaths in 2018, with more than 500 civilians killed by “aerial operations for the first time on record,” it added.

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According to the UNAMA, at least 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded over the last decade

Meanwhile, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said at a press briefing in Kabul on Sunday that the civilian casualties were “wholly unacceptable” and called on all parties to take “immediate and additional concrete steps to stop a further escalation in the number of civilians harmed and lives destroyed.”

“It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy,” Yamamoto said, adding, “The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting.”

The report’s release comes a day before the US and the Taliban hold their next round of talks aimed at ending the conflict. The talks — due in Doha, Qatar — follow years of escalating violence in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump told Congress that he intended to bring home US forces from Afghanistan as negotiators made progress in talks with the Taliban militants.

But US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has emphasized that any troop withdrawal would depend on conditions on the ground. 

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Critics remain skeptical of the talks for a number of reasons, including primarily that they have not included the Afghan government.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.

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