KABUL: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit a record high this year, a UN report said, highlighting worsening violence as US-led troops leave after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban.
Casualties jumped 19 percent by the end of November compared to the year before, with 3,188 civilians killed and 6,429 injured, the United Nation’s Mission’s for Afghanistan said in a report.
It warned that civilian casualties were expected to exceed 10,000 by the end of the year, making it the deadliest year for noncombatants since the organisation began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009.
Compared to 2013, this year also saw a 33 percent rise in casualties among children and a 12 percent increase among women, according to the report released on Friday.
“Civilian casualties are particularly tragic and very prominent part, even benchmark, of the horror of the violence that ordinary Afghans face,” said Nicholas Haysom, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan.
While ground fighting between troops and insurgent groups and Improvised explosive devices remained leading causes of deaths and injuries, the Taliban were accountable for 75 percent of all civilian casualties, the report said.AFP
