KABUL: At least 2,400 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in May and June of this year as fighting between Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces escalated, the United Nations said on Monday.
According to a report, the UN’s Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had documented 5,183 civilian casualties between January and June, of which 1,659 were deaths. The number was up 47% from the same period last year.
UNAMA said 2021 would be the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since its records began unless urgent action was taken to tackle violence in the country.
The report added that it was “sickening” that almost half of all casualties had been women and children, who have been killed and injured in record numbers this year. Some 32% of casualties were children, while 14% were women — with a combined total of 687 dead and 1,722 injured.
The figures underscored the dire situation for Afghan civilians as intense fighting picked up in May and June after US President Joe Biden announced American troops would withdraw by September.
The UNAMA report noted that for the first time, no casualties were attributed to international military action but rather that fighting had taken on a distinctly Afghan fighting Afghan character.
Heavy clashes around the country have taken place in the past two months as the Taliban launches major offensives, taking rural districts, border crossings and surrounding provincial capitals, prompting Afghan and US forces to carry out air strikes.
Negotiators have been meeting in Qatar’s capital of Doha in recent weeks but diplomats have cautioned there has been little substantive progress since peace talks began in September.
“I implore the Taliban and Afghan leaders to take heed of the conflict’s grim and chilling trajectory and its devastating impact on civilians,” said Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
