Civilians Bore Brunt of ‘Escalating Violence in July’

The preliminary findings of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) shows that more than 1,500 civilians were killed and injured in July-the highest number of any month in the current year, says UNAMA in a statement.

“The main driver in July was a sharp rise in civilian causalities caused by Anti-Government Elements (AGES), the statement adds.

According to the statement, the attacks by Taliban on July 1^st in Kabul, on July 18^th in Kandahar, and on July 7^th in Ghazni left 578 civilians killed and wounded; more than 80 victims were children.

“As peace efforts have intensified in recent weeks so too has the conflict on the ground,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.

“I call on all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace,” said the envoy, who is also head of UNAMA.

Based on the statement, the suicide attack by Daesh in Kabul on July 25^th against a Ministry of Mines and Petroleum bus left seven civilians killed and 32 other wounded.

In addition, the attack targeting the civilians at Kabul University left eight civilians killed and 36 others wounded, the statement adds.

Moreover, the statement says that the airstrike on a residential house by the government in Bala Murghab district of Badghis province and the nightly attack of the national security forces on a hospital also left civilian causalities in July.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) stresses that the AGES and especially the Taliban have been the main cause of civilian causalities.

This comes as UNAMA previously had announced that over 4,000 civilians have been killed or injured in the first six months of 2019 where the government supporting forces have been the reason behind these causalities.

However, the Afghan government describes the figures inaccurate while UNAMA says that it proves all the reports by providing evidence.

The Taliban group has not made any comment on this report of UNAMA yet.