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UN Counts All-Time High Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan
The number of civilian deaths hit an all-time high in the first half of the current year, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a report released on Sunday.
Deaths rose 1 percent to 1,692, although injuries dropped 5 percent to 3,430, the UN report said.
The report says the number is the highest six-month death toll since the systematic documentation of civilian casualties started in 2009.
Overall civilian casualties were down 3 percent since last year.
“The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in attacks by Anti-Government Elements remained the leading cause of civilian casualties,” the UN said.
“The combined use of suicide and non-suicide IEDs caused nearly half of all civilian casualties,” it added.
The suicide attacks and bombings claimed by Islamic State (IS) attributed to 52 percent of civilian casualties mainly in Kabul and Nangarhar province while the Taliban were responsible for 40 percent. The remainder were attributed to unidentified Anti-Government Elements, the UN report said.
Ground engagements were the second leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by targeted and deliberate killings, aerial operations, and explosive remnants of war. Civilians living in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Faryab, Helmand and Kandahar were most impacted by the conflict.
UNAMA recorded 1,355 child casualties (363 deaths and 992 injured), a 15 percent drop compared to the same period in 2017. Though UNAMA recorded decreases in child casualties from explosive remnants of war, 89 percent of civilian casualties from explosive remnants of war were children.
The death toll came despite last month’s unprecedented cease-fire in the country by the Afghan security forces and the Taliban.
“The brief ceasefire demonstrated that the fighting can be stopped and that Afghan civilians no longer need to bear the brunt of the war,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
“We urge parties to seize all opportunities to find a peaceful settlement – this is the best way that they can protect all civilians,” said Yamamoto, who is also head of UNAMA.
The UN also said that casualties from air strikes, which have intensified, went up by 52 percent, with 353 casualties including 149 dead and 204 wounded.
More than half of the civilian casualties were caused by the Afghan Air Force. International forces were blamed for 45 percent of the casualties from aerial attacks.
With reporting by RFE/RL
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on the last day of a three-day seminar on the coordination and regulation of specialist and religious universities in Kandahar that after the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, all the opponents were forgiven and they now live together like brothers.
Speaking at the seminar Monday, Akhundzada added that he is satisfied with the performance of his acting ministers as they always obey him.
“I am happy with my ministers and they are good people and always obey me. Obey, value and honor them because honor and obedience are not exclusive to the Amir [leader], but include all the commanders,” Akhundzada said.
He also said that the world wants to separate politics from religion, so that even in Islamic countries, scholars do not have a role in politics; but according to him in Afghanistan, scholars should have access to politics.
He asked scholars to follow the orders of the Islamic Emirate to encourage the nation to implement and obey the orders.
Ziaullah Hashimi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Higher Education, says that the three-day seminar brought together department heads, deputies and professors of the General Directorate of Specialist and Religious Universities of the Ministry of Higher Education.
The seminar started on Saturday and ended Monday.
Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan has officially opened in Herat province with the aim of increasing the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries.
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Noorudin Azizi called the opening of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan a “positive and effective step” in strengthening and expanding trade relations between the two countries.
He stated that as a result of the trip of an Afghan delegation to Kazakhstan, Afghanistan’s exports to Kazakhstan have increased.
Meanwhile, Arman Yusintayev, head of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan, highlighted that the aim of opening a trade house in Afghanistan is to increase the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries, adding Kazakhstan is interested in expanding trade relations with Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) for economic affairs, has said that the great powers of the world are seeking to prevent the economic and political progress of the IEA.
Baradar made the remarks at the graduation ceremony of troops from the 201 Khalid Ibn Walid Corps training academy.
“The great powers of the world view the Islamic Emirate with suspicion and are still trying to prevent our economic and political progress, but we must be wise and alert,” he said.
No country has yet officially recognized the IEA government, almost three years after their take over.
Sanctions imposed on Afghanistan’s banking sector have meanwhile had negative effects on the country’s economy.
The international community has set conditions for the recognition of the Islamic Emirate, including ensuring of women’s rights and forming of an inclusive government.
However, the Islamic Emirate claims that women’s rights are ensured according to Sharia law and that there are representatives of different ethnic groups in the cabinet.
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