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Civilians bear brunt of conflict in Afghanistan: UN refugee agency

Xinhua, March 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Civilians in Afghanistan continue to bear the brunt of a conflict that is growing in intensity and geographic scope and affecting the lives of some 6.3 million people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview indicates that some 8.1 million people need humanitarian assistance, but this figure is expected to increase to at least 8.3 million people due to the intensification of the conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday at a daily news briefing here.

"Aid agencies are concerned by the increasing number of attacks, in particular on health workers and health facilities," he said.

In 2015, attacks against health facilities and personnel increased by 50 percent.

Meanwhile, more than 11,000 civilian casualties were documented last year and some 335,000 people were newly displaced, a 78-percent increase compared to 2014. Enditem