Afghanistan: “worrying” increase in violence after the US-Taliban agreement

Violence has increased "alarmingly" in Afghanistan after the signing of the US-Taliban agreement in late February, the UN reported on Monday April 27, the number of civilian victims of the conflict having declined sharply in the first quarter of 2020, marked by a partial truce.

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Some 533 civilians were killed and 760 injured, said the UN mission in Afghanistan (Manua) in its quarterly report, a balance sheet down 29% compared to the first quarter of 2019. It is "the figure the lower for the first quarter since 2012, " observed in a press release the winter months, marked by snow and cool temperatures, being generally less bloody. The United States and the Taliban signed a historic agreement in Doha on February 29 to withdraw foreign troops from Afghan soil within 14 months in exchange for insurgent security.

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This text, not ratified by Kabul, was the occasion of a 9-day truce, which the Taliban ended in early March. While struggling since then to come to an agreement with the Afghan government, they have continued to assault its security forces, killing dozens of soldiers and police in the past week. La Manua denounces "a disturbing increase in violence during the month of March, at a time when it was hoped that the Afghan government and the Taliban would begin peace negotiations and seek means to defuse the conflict". The Taliban, in a statement, "rejected" the UN report, which they accuse of "once again trying to cover up the crimes" of the American and Afghan forces.

While pro-government forces are responsible for 32% of civilian casualties, they kill almost twice as many children as the insurgents, mainly in air strikes and ground fighting, the UN said.

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