A recent article in the NY Times and the SF Chronicle summarizes a new UN report on Afghan civilian casualties. 2008 was a record-breaking year in that regard, but 2009 is on track to exceed 2008’s totals. Excerpts and links to the full article:
Civilian Deaths Rise in Afghan War, U.N. says
Sharon Otterman, New York Times
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The widening war in Afghanistan … is taking an increasingly heavy toll on civilians, with 1,013 killed in the first six months of 2009, up from 818 during the same period in 2008, according to a United Nations report released Friday.
Explosions and suicide attacks carried out by anti-government forces, including the Taliban, caused a majority of the civilian deaths, killing 595 civilians during the period, the report said. Of the 310 deaths attributed to pro-government forces, approximately two-thirds were caused by American air strikes. …
…
The main rise in civilian deaths came from the increasingly lethal tactics of the antigovernment insurgents, including the use of improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks and assassinations, the report said. Almost a third of the country is now directly affected by insurgent activity, the report said, and that reach is steadily spreading.
The report noted increased efforts by international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan to reduce the number of civilian casualties, such as by creating a special system to track them …
The high number of deaths caused by air strikes, however, as well as reports of excessive force used by joint Afghan and international patrols in search-and-seizure raids, remain sources of concern, the report said.
