KABUL: Urban warfare has caused a spike in deaths and
injuries among women and children in Afghanistan this year as the
Taliban intensifies their campaign against the Kabul government, the
United Nations said on Sunday.
In all, 161 children were killed from January to March and 449 were
injured, a 29 percent rise over the first three months of 2015, the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.
"If the fighting persists near schools, playgrounds, homes and
clinics, and parties continue to use explosive weapons in those areas –
particularly mortars and IED tactics, these appalling numbers of
children killed and maimed will continue," UNAMA human rights director
Danielle Bell said in a statement.
Overall civilian casualties in the period reached 1,943, including
600 deaths and 1,343 injuries. The number of deaths was down 13 percent
from the first quarter of 2105 but the number of injuries was 11 percent
higher.
Almost a third of casualties were children and there was a five
percent rise in women being killed or injured, reflecting an increase in
fighting in built-up areas as the Taliban has pressed its insurgency.
Fifty two women were killed and 143 injured during the period.
Although the report said most casualties were caused by anti
government forces, it noted a jump in those caused by security forces
using explosive weapons like mortars and grenades and called on their
use in civilian areas to be restricted.
The figures come days after the Taliban announced the start
of its annual spring offensive and stepped up attacks on Kunduz, the
northern city that fell briefly to the insurgents last year.
There has also been heavy fighting in the southern province
of Helmand, where the Taliban have pushed government forces out of many
areas into smaller defensive positions around the provincial capital
Lashkar Gah and other district centres.
Last year, the first since NATO ended combat operations,
civilian casualties hit a record 11,002, with 3,545 deaths and 7,457
injuries.
UNAMA estimated 60 percent of casualties were caused by
anti-government forces including the Taliban and other groups such as
Islamic State. Pro-government forces caused 19 percent of the total, but
that was 70 percent higher than a year earlier. The rest could not be
attributed directly.
Airstrikes by Afghan or U.S. aircraft caused six deaths and 21 injuries, up from 16 in the same period of 2015.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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