Afghanistan Times
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AT News Report-KABUL: Civilian casualties have increased 30pc in the first half of the current year compared to the same period of time in Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said Saturday, expressing concerns over the people’s gatherings being targeted by terrorist attacks in the capital and provinces.
The commission called on the war sides to respect civil rights and refrain from targeting them, with Belal Seddiqi, spokesman of the commission, saying that culture of immunity from punishment and violation of international laws were the main reasons of increasing of civilian casualties.
“Unfortunately, we see that recently the people’s gatherings are systematically targeted which is the matter of a big concern. Our figures show that civilian casualties have increased 30 per cent in the first six month of the year compared to the same period last year,” said Seddiqi, asking the government to arrest and punish the violators of law.
The US military officials have also expressed concerns over the increase of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
In a very recent incident, three women and a child were killed, while 30 other civilians were injured when a military chopper targeted a wedding procession Thursday in the Maroof district of southern province of Kandahar.
A non-governmental watchdog named ‘Safety and Justice Group for Civilians’ says that 123 civilians had been killed by the foreign air raids in the past one month in 12 provinces.
Meanwhile, defense ministry says that the national army was fighting to save people’s lives and properties. Ghafoor Ahmad Javed, spokesman of the defense ministry said Saturday that “the enemy” uses people as human shields which causes the rise in civilian casualties.
Separately, members of parliament said that the international community came here with the promise of helping in security, so this is the time for them to fulfill their promises.
