THE TALIBAN’S increasing use of homemade bombs and political assassination has caused a 31 per cent increase in the number of civilians who have been killed or injured in fighting in Afghanistan this year, the United Nations said yesterday.
The UN’s Kabul mission released data showing that even as the number of child casualties has soared by 55 per cent, strict rules on the use of airpower by Nato troops have led to a 30 per cent drop in the number of deaths and injuries caused by foreign forces in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period in 2009.
UN human rights workers recorded 1,271 civilian deaths over the period and 1,997 injuries. Of the 3,268 total, insurgent forces were responsible for 2,477 casualties, while Nato and Afghan government forces accounted for 386.
“These figures show that the Taliban are resorting to desperate measures, increasingly executing and assassinating civilians, including teachers, doctors, civil servants and tribal elders,” said Rachel Reid, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch.
“Targeting civilians violates the laws of war, and the Taliban’s own codes of conduct. Taliban leaders should immediately call off this campaign of terror against Afghan civilians.”
The research also highlights the changes that occurred under Gen Stanley McChrystal, the former US commander of all Nato forces in Afghanistan recalled to Washington in embarrassing circumstances. He had made protecting Afghan civilians a priority, even at the cost of putting his troops at greater risk by restricting their freedom to use heavy weapons.
The report said a 64 per cent drop in the use of aerial attacks by the coalition had been largely responsible for the 30 per cent decrease in casualties caused by Nato. Despite political pressure on Gen David Petraeus, Gen McChrystal’s successor, to loosen the rules, the new commander has largely recommitted the coalition to avoiding civilian casualties as much as possible.
“Every Afghan death diminishes our cause,” Gen Petraeus said in a recently published tactical directive.
“While we have made progress in our efforts to reduce coalition-caused civilian casualties, we know the measure by which our mission will be judged is protecting the population from harm by either side.”
Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations chief in Afghanistan, said women and children were increasingly bearing the brunt of the conflict. “They are being killed and injured in their homes and communities in greater numbers than ever before,” he said.
Driving the overall increase in civilian casualties caused by insurgents is the increasing use of larger and more sophisticated bombs that are typically buried in roadsides and tracks to target Nato convoys and foot patrols.
However, they also kill and maim civilians. Last month, the Taliban were blamed for planting a bomb that hit a bus travelling on a desert highway in southern Afghanistan, killing 25 people.
The number of children killed by improvised explosive devices rose 155 per cent, the report said.
The other factor has been the near-doubling of the Taliban’s use of assassination to dissuade Afghans from working for the government or its international backers. Teachers, doctors, tribal elders, community leaders, provincial and district officials have all been targeted.
“This intensified pattern of assassinations and executions reinforced the widespread perception of Afghan civilians that they are becoming more and more the primary target in this period of conflict,” Mr De Mistura said.
The UN called for the Taliban to withdraw “all orders and statements calling for the killing of civilians”, stop roadside bomb and suicide attacks, and cease acts of intimidation and the use of civilians as human shields.