Ghani Halts Military Operations with Risk of Civilian Casualties

President Ashraf Ghani orders halt to all military operations with expected civilian casualties, presidential spokesman, Sediq Sediqi says.

According to the presidential palace, all claims of civilian casualties in operations by Afghan security forces shall be reviewed and security forces are asked to avoid operations in the civilian households. 

Moreover, CEO Abdullah Abdullah confirms the increase in civilian casualties caused by Afghan forces and stresses that protecting the people should be our top priority in the operations.

This comes as there have been several reports about non-combatants’ harm during pro-government operations in the last few weeks. And on Monday, August 26^th residents of Kabul’s’ Mussahi district and Logar province protested against night operations by Afghan forces.

Protestors criticize night raids on people houses where civilians get harmed and warn if civilian causalities continue, people would not partake in national processes like the election.

In another recent case, 11 civilians have reportedly been killed by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives on August 12, in Zurmat district of Paktia province. President Ghani vowed to investigate the event and prosecute those proven guilty.