Afghan civilian casualties increased by 29 percent this year: UN

UN warns food stocks in Afghanistan could run out by month's end

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 14 (APP): Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are up by 29 percent this year and numbered close to 1,800 over the first three months of 2021, according to a United Nations report on Wednesday.

In the Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2021 First Quarter Report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 1,783 civilian casualties – 573 killed and 1,210 injured.

“The number of Afghan civilians killed and maimed, especially women and children, is deeply disturbing. I implore the parties to urgently find a way to stop this violence,” Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan said.

UNAMA said it recorded a 38 per cent increase in civilian casualties in the six months between October 2020 and March 2021, compared with the same period one year earlier, noting that in February 2020, both Afghan government forces and the Taliban agreed to a week’s reduction in violence, which immediately and significantly reduced the scale of harm to Afghan civilians, demonstrating that political commitment can save Afghan lives.

Unfortunately, the mission said no additional reductions in violence have been agreed to since the start of the Afghan peace negotiations in Sept. 2020.

“Every possible opportunity for peace must be seized. If levels of violence are not immediately reduced, thousands of Afghan civilians will continue to be killed and injured by fellow Afghans in 2021,” Ms. Lyons, who is also head of UNAMA, said.

The overall increase in civilian casualties in the first quarter of 2021 was mainly driven by the same trends that caused the increase at the end of last year: ground engagements; improvised explosive devices; and targeted killings, UNAMA said.

Anti-Government Elements continued to be responsible for the majority (61 per cent) of all civilian casualties in the first three months of 2021, while Pro-Government Forces continued to cause approximately one quarter (27 per cent) of the total civilian casualties, the report said.

In the first three months of 2021, UNAMA said it documented increases in the number of civilian casualties as compared to the first quarter of 2020, attributed to both the Afghan National Army, and the Taliban, with the Taliban responsible for 43.5 per cent of all civilian casualties, and the Afghan National Army responsible for 17 per cent.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has ordered the full withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan by no later than September 11, a senior US administration official said on Tuesday.

“This is not conditions-based. The president has judged that a conditions-based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“He [Biden] has reached the conclusion that the United States will complete its drawdown, will remove its forces from Afghanistan before Sept. 11,” the official said ahead of Biden’s formal announcement expected on Wednesday.

Waheed Umer, the director general at the Office of Public and Strategic Affairs of the Afghan government, has said the US troop withdrawal has been discussed between the US and Afghan governments repeatedly in the past.

“President Biden is expected to talk to President [Ashraf] Ghani in the near future to officially share details of the new withdrawal plan. Till then, we will not comment on the details”, Umer said on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the United Nations announced that an international conference on the Afghan peace process will be held in Istanbul on April 24-May 4.

The high level and inclusive conference between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban is being co-convened by Turkey, Qatar, and the UN.

But the Taliban have said that they will not participate in the meeting.

Asked by APP at the United Nations briefing in New York whether the meeting will go ahead even if the Taliban, a principal party in the conflict, don’t show up, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there were still 10 days to go before that event and discussions in this regard were still taking place.

“We have announced our plan and the invitations, including to the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, but I’m not 10 days out, and, I’m not going to start making predictions…”, Dujarric added.

APP Services