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[9 July 2014] -
Ground combat and crossfire hit children and women with unprecedented force in the armed conflict in Afghanistan, with child casualties more than doubling in the first six months of 2014, the United Nations says.
Two-thirds more women killed and injured by ground engagements during this period compared with 2013, according to a major report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Ground combat among parties to the armed conflict in Afghanistan surpassed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as the leading cause of conflict-related death and injury to Afghan civilians in the first six months of 2014, says the report launched on Wednesday in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
In its 2014 Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, UNAMA also noted that while civilian casualties caused by IEDs also increased to unprecedented levels over the same period in 2013, deaths and injuries caused by mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire in ground engagements jumped dramatically. This is because the frequency and intensity of these incidents increased in 2014, particularly in areas with concentrated civilian populations.
"The nature of the conflict in Afghanistan is changing in 2014 with an escalation of ground engagements in civilian-populated areas," the United Nations Special Representative for the Secretary-General in Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Ján Kubiš, said in a news release. "The impact on civilians, including the most vulnerable Afghans, is proving to be devastating," he added.
The reports notes that from 1 January to 30 June 2014, UNAMA documented 4,853 civilian casualties, up 24 per cent over the same period in 2013, which Included 1,564 civilian deaths.
Total child civilian casualties increased 34 per cent in the first six months of 2014 to 1,071, including 295 killed, while total women civilian casualties increased 24 per cent to 440, including 148 killed.
IEDs used by Anti-Government Elements is the second leading cause of civilian casualties in 2014, says the report.
Suicide and complex attacks by militants are the third leading cause of civilian casualties, which killed 156.
Compared with the first six months of 2009, when UNAMA began to monitor civilian casualties, the number of civilians killed by Anti-Government Elements doubled in 2014, while the number of civilians killed by Pro-Government forces has been cut by half, mostly due to reduced civilian casualties from aerial operations of international military forces.
The report was prepared in coordination with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
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