Afghan and international forces were responsible for more civilian deaths in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban and other militants, a new U.N. report said Wednesday. It marks the first time in recent years that civilian deaths attributed to government forces and their allies exceeded those blamed on their enemies.
The statistics reflects what many say is a growing problem in Afghanistan’s brutal war, in which civilians die not only in suicide bombings and insurgent attacks but also in the cross-fire as Afghan and NATO forces pursue militants.
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported Wednesday that 581 civilians were killed between Jan. 1 and March 31, with Afghan forces and NATO responsible for 305 of those deaths. The insurgents were responsible for wounding more civilians than the coalition forces, the report said.
Nearly half of the civilian deaths attributed to Afghan forces and their allies occurred during airstrikes, while some of the other civilians were killed during searches and raids of militant hideouts.
The report does not single out any NATO country. U.S. forces carry out airstrikes when called to assist Afghan forces.
More than 50% of the civilians killed were women and children, said Richard Bennett, UNAMA’s human rights director.
“These tactics have resulted in a high proportion of deaths of civilians,” raising U.N. concerns, he said, referring to airstrikes and search operations.
“Every death, every injury is a tragedy for civilians,” said Bennett. “This remains an intense conflict and there are way too many civilians being killed and injured by all parties.