UN report reveals sharp spike in Afghan civilian casualties

WSWS

Afghan civilians suffered a 31 percent increase in casualties during the first half of this year, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday. While the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan blamed anti-occupation forces for the bulk of the killing and maiming, the spike coincides with Obama’s military “surge,” which has deployed an additional 30,000 combat troops in the country.

According to the report, there were 3,268 civilian casualties during the previous six months, with 1,271 killed and 1,997 wounded, “most of them severely.”

The UN mission blamed 2,477 of these civilian casualties on so-called AGEs, or anti-government elements, which include the Taliban as well as other forces resisting foreign occupation and the corrupt US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. It attributed 386 of these casualties to “pro-government forces [PGF],” which includes the US military and other foreign troops as well as Afghan security forces. It added that for 10 percent of the casualties, it was not possible to determine who was responsible.

The report attributed the rise in casualties allegedly caused by Afghan resistance forces to a marked increase in the assassination of government officials and others seen as collaborating with the occupation, which the UN said had reached a level of 18 a day in May. In addition, there has been, according to the report, a substantial increase in casualties resulting from IEDs (improvised explosive devices). These roadside bombs, aimed against foreign troop convoys, not infrequently are set off by civilians. The report blamed these bombs for the deaths of 557 civilians and the wounding of 1,137 more.

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