NSC blames Taliban for high civilian casualty toll recorded in UN report

Afghanistan’s Office of the National Security Council on Monday afternoon voiced its concerns over the high number of civilian casualties recorded in the first six months of this year and said the Taliban were responsible “for the vast majority”. 

In its statement, the NSC said: “We note the midyear report by UNAMA and underscore the government’s findings from the field demonstrate that the Taliban are responsible for the vast majority of the civilian casualties in Afghanistan, either directly or by creating an enabling environment for other terrorist groups to attack civilians.” 

The NSC stated that “given the concerns regarding the nature of this report, we remain committed to working with UNAMA in refining its findings to better reflect the battlefield statistics.”

According to the NSC, the recent upsurge in Taliban attacks and violence against civilians comes after their commitment to decreasing violence as per the US-Taliban agreement signed earlier this year in Doha

“To protect civilians from violence and fight COVID-19 and to help the peace efforts lead to success, we yet again invite Taliban to a lasting ceasefire and the immediate start of direct talks, the statement read.  

According to the NSC, government maintained a defensive posture for months “during which the Taliban continued their violence against the people and infrastructure of Afghanistan”.

 They said the ANDSF has clear orders from the President and security-sector leaders to continue to implement the procedures and policies in place to mitigate harm to civilian lives and property.

This statement came just hours after UNAMA’s midyear report was released which stated over 1,200 civilians had been killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year.

 The midyear report stated that anti-government elements (AGE’s) continued to be responsible for the majority of civilian casualties and that UNAMA documented a disturbing increase in civilian casualties attributed to the Taliban from pressure-plate improvised explosive devices, as well as from abductions that led to ill-treatment and summary executions.

 “A total of 58 percent of civilian casualties were caused by AGE’s, with the Taliban responsible for 1,473 (580 killed and 893 injured) representing 43 percent of the total number of civilian casualties in the 1 January-30 June 2020 period,” an UNAMA statement read. 

NATO also responded to the report and said on Twitter: “Unacceptable violence levels by the Taliban cause the majority of civilian casualties. Taliban insistence on violence risks harming the unique opportunity for peace. #NATO calls on the Taliban to cease violence, live up to their commitments & enter intra-Afghan negotiations ASAP.”

NATO added that the best way to end the suffering of civilians is to pursue political settlement of the conflict. All parties agree there is no military solution. 

 “#NATO remains committed to helping #Afghanistan achieve lasting peace, for the benefit of all Afghans.”