UN reports soaring civilian casualties in Afghanistan as violence deepens

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan soared by 24 per cent in the first half of this year, according to UN figures released yesterday, revealing worsening nationwide violence as US-led troops leave after more than a decade fighting the Taliban.

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Afghan men carry a coffin of a civilian in a hospital in the city of Kandahar, south of Kabul. Photo: AP

Published: 9:45pm, 9 Jul 2014Updated: 6:09am, 10 Jul 2014

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan soared by 24 per cent in the first half of this year, according to UN figures released yesterday, revealing worsening nationwide violence as US-led troops leave after more than a decade fighting the Taliban.

Afghan residents gather near the site of a suicide bombing in the Qalandar Khail village of Parwan. The suicide bomber killed 16 people, including 10 civilians and four NATO soldiers, in an attack in eastern Afghanistan. Photo: AFP

Ground combat is now causing more deaths and injuries than improvised explosive devices in a worrying sign of spreading conflict, the UN report said, with women and children increasingly caught in the crossfire.

"The nature of the conflict in Afghanistan is changing in 2014 with an escalation of ground engagements in civilian-populated areas," warned Jan Kubis, the United Nations mission chief in Afghanistan.

"The impact on civilians, including the most vulnerable Afghans, is proving to be devastating."

In the first six months of this year, the mission documented 4,853 civilian casualties - up 24 percent over the same period last year.

The toll included 1,564 deaths and 3,289 injuries, with ground engagements causing two out of every five civilian casualties this year.