Record number of civilian casualties reported in Afghanistan since 2009

A UN report on Afghanistan published on Monday showed a record number of civilian casualties since counting began in 2009, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

Meanwhile, 5,166 civilians were killed or maimed in just the first six months of this year, of whom almost one third were children, according to the report.

"This represents an increase of four percent in the total number of casualties compared to the first six months of 2015 -- and is the highest half-year total since 2009," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

While anti-government elements remain responsible for the majority -- 60 percent -- of civilian casualties, there was an increase in the number of civilians killed and injured by pro-government forces between January and June this year, Haq said.

Between January and June this year, the human rights team of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injured civilians, an increase of four percent in the total number of casualties compared to the first six months of 2015, according to the report, entitled "Afghanistan Midyear Report 2016; Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict."

The total civilian casualty figure recorded by the UN since Jan. 1, 2009 through June 30, 2016 has risen to 63,934, including 22,941 deaths and 40,993 injured.

This year's casualties include 1,509 children, 388 dead and 1,121 injured, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a press release, describing the figure as "alarming and shameful," particularly as it represents the highest numbers of children killed or wounded in a six-month period since counting began in 2009.

There were also 507 women casualties, 130 killed and 377 injured, the report said.

In the press release, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, stressed that the report must serve as a call to action by parties to the conflict "to do all they can to spare civilians from the horrors of war."

"Every single casualty documented in this report -- people killed while praying, working, studying, fetching water, recovering in hospitals -- ... represents a failure of commitment and should be a call to action for parties to the conflict to take meaningful, concrete steps to reduce civilians' suffering and increase protection," Yamamoto said.

"Platitudes not backed by meaningful action ring hollow over time. History and the collective memory of the Afghan people will judge leaders of all parties to this conflict by their actual conduct," he added.

Meanwhile, the report also highlighted the need for accountability and justice for all human rights violations and abuses, underlining that victims and family members must not be required to submit written complaints for the authorities to initiate investigations, particularly in view of the low literacy rates in the country. Endit