AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Almost 1,300 civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of the year, according to the United Nations.
In a new report published on Monday, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the country remains one of the deadliest conflicts in the world for civilians.
It said it had documented at least 1,282 civilian deaths from January to June, with another 2,176 people wounded in the same period. Those numbers include 340 children killed and another 727 wounded.
"At a time when the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban have a historic opportunity to come together at the negotiating table for peace talks, the tragic reality is that the fighting continues inflicting terrible harm to civilians every day," said Deborah Lyons, the UN chief's special representative for Afghanistan.
The report identified anti-government armed groups such as the Taliban and ISIL (ISIS) as the main cause of the casualties, accounting for 58 percent of the victims. Pro-government forces were responsible for 23 percent of civilians killed or wounded.
The UNAMA figures represent a 13-percent decline on the numbers of deaths and injuries reported during the same time period in 2019. The report credited the drop in part to the reduction of operations by international forces in support of Afghan government forces and also to a decrease in the number of attacks by ISIL.
The number of casualties - meaning both those killed and those wounded - caused by government forces and the Taliban remained almost unchanged, however. Civilian casualties from Afghan army air attacks tripled compared with the first half of 2019.
"I urge the parties to pause, to reflect on the chilling incidents and the harm that they are causing to the Afghan people as documented in this report, and to take decisive action to stop the carnage and get to the negotiating table," said Lyons.
..........................................
End/ 257
source : Al Jazeera
Tuesday
28 July 2020
5:07:20 AM
1058402
Almost 1,300 civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of the year, according to the United Nations.