KABUL, Feb 24 (AP): More civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year than in any of the previous nine years of the increasingly bloody conflict, according to a UN report released on Sunday, which blamed the spike in deaths on increased suicide bombings by the Islamic State group and stepped up aerial attacks by US-led coalition forces.
In its annual report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 3,804 civilians were killed last year, the highest number since the international organization began tallying figures in 2009. Another 7,189 were wounded.
The report comes amid efforts to find a peaceful end to the 17-year war, which have accelerated since the appointment in September of US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is to begin another round of talks with the Taliban on Monday in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they maintain a political office.
UN envoy Tadamichi Yamamoto called the spiraling number of civilian casualties "deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable."
Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians live as refugees in their own country after fleeing fighting in their home provinces. Tens of thousands more have fled their homeland, seeking safety in neighbouring countries and in Europe.
According to the report, 63 per cent of all civilian casualties were caused by insurgents, with the breakdown blaming the Taliban for 37 percent of the dead and wounded, the Islamic State group for 20 per cent, and a collection of other anti-government groups for the remaining six per cent.
The government and its US and NATO allies were blamed for 24 per cent of the dead and wounded civilians caught in the crossfire, many of them killed in stepped up aerial attacks, most of which are carried out by the US and NATO.
The report said civilian casualties at the hands of Afghan and international forces were up significantly in 2018 compared to 2017.
"For the first time since 2009 when it began systematically documenting civilian casualty figures, UNAMA recorded more than 1,000 civilian casualties from aerial operations," the report said.
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