Air
attacks by Afghan and international forces caused a total of 590
civilian casualties in 2016 (250 deaths and 340 people injured),
almost double that of 2015.
by
Jack Serle
Part
1
Airstrikes
killed and injured more civilians in Afghanistan last year than at
any time since the United Nations (UN) began systematically recording
casualties there in 2009.
The “sharp
increase” in civilian casualties from air attacks came during a
year that saw the highest ever number of non-combatants killed and
injured since the Afghan conflict began, the UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (Unama) said in its annual report published today.
Air attacks
by Afghan and international forces caused a total of 590 civilian
casualties in 2016 (250 deaths and 340 people injured), almost double
that of 2015. The conflict as a whole killed and injured more than
11,000 civilians in total last year, of which 3,512 were children –
the highest number of child casualties recorded by Unama in a single
year and a 24% increase from 2015.
The number
of strikes also significantly increased, up 50% from 2015 to 2016 as
Afghan and international air forces responded to a deteriorating
situation on the ground and the US terms of engagement expanded. US
pilots, attacking with drones, gunships and fighter jets, were
responsible for 40% of the civilian airstrike casualties, while 43%
were caused by the US-trained and equipped Afghan Air Force (AAF).
A resurgent
Taliban is continuing to stretch Afghan and international forces.
Though almost at breaking point at times, the US military has pointed
out the insurgents failed in all eight attempts to take a provincial
capital last year.
This is an
improvement on 2015 when the Taliban briefly took control of Kunduz
city – the first provincial centre to fall to the insurgents since
the US invasion in 2001.
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