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KABUL: More than 11,000 civilians were killed and injured in the past Afghan year (2018-2019), explaining a 19 per cent increase compared to the same period of time in the year before, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission says.
The commission released a report on Tuesday that says over 3,000 civilians were killed and 8,000 more injured in the past Afghan year, with 68 per cent of the victims men, eight per cent women and 21 per cent children.
The commission director, Sima Samar, said that women casualties soared up to 16 per cent. She said the figures show that war had been widened in the residential areas, particularly residential houses.
The report highlights civilian casualties during the parliamentary elections held last October, claiming that armed opposition launched massive attacks to prevent election turnout. Nearly 700 people were killing on the day of elections with Taliban claiming responsibility for all. Most of these casualties happened in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan, which was recorded as 20 per cent.
The report also says that Taliban were responsible for 53 per cent of the casualties, pro-government and foreign troops responsible for 12 per cent each, while it was not clear that who was responsible for the remaining of 22 per cent casualties.
The Daesh terrorist group which emerged in the country in early 2015, is responsible for killing and injuring of 1,500 civilians in the past year in the provinces of Kabul, Paktia, Ghor, Jawzjan and Nangarhar.
The human rights commission calls increase in casualties a matter of concern, asking the government to launch courses of international humanitarian laws for the security forces to prevent civilian casualties.
Spike in civilian causality surfaced when US peace envoy, Zalamy Khalilzad as in fresh peace tour to find a logical end to the Afghan conflict. It has been for decades that Afghan civilians have been suffering worst from ongoing war that must be stopped.
