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Afghanistan: If fighting continues, number of civilians killed will be "unprecedented" in 2021, says UN

2021-07-26T06:12:05.935Z


An "unprecedented" number of civilians will be killed or wounded in Afghanistan in 2021 if the fighting continues, which intensifies ...


An "

unprecedented

" number of civilians will be killed or injured in Afghanistan in 2021 if the fighting continues, which has intensified since the launch in May of a widespread Taliban offensive, the UN warned on Monday (July 26th).

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In its biannual report published Monday on civilian casualties in the first half of this year, the UN mission in Afghanistan (Unama) says it expects this year to record the highest number of civilian casualties in a year since 2009, date on which this count started.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 reached record levels, with a particularly sharp rise in deaths and injuries since May, when international forces began to withdraw and fighting escalated after the offensive of Taliban,

”notes Unama.

An increase of 47% compared to 2020

"

The report clearly shows that an unprecedented number of Afghan civilians will perish and be seriously injured this year if the escalation of violence is not stopped,

" warned Deborah Lyons, UN Special Representative in Kabul , in a press release.

"

I implore the Taliban and the Afghan leadership to heed the grim and frightening trajectory of the conflict and its devastating effect on civilians

."

Read also: The United States will continue its airstrikes in Afghanistan if the Taliban offensive continues

According to Unama, 1,659 civilians were killed and 3,254 injured in the first half of 2021, an increase of 47% compared to the first half of 2020. This rise in the number of civilian casualties was particularly "

serious

" in May and June, both first months of the all-out offensive launched by the Taliban across the country, during which 783 civilians were killed and 1,609 wounded, underlines the UN mission. “

Particularly shocking

” fact, according to Unama, nearly half of the civilian victims recorded in the first half of the year are women and children.

Anti-government groups are responsible for 64% of civilian casualties recorded in the first half of 2021: 39% are attributable to the Taliban, 9% to the Islamic State group and 16% to "

indeterminate elements

", according to the UN mission. She estimates that pro-government forces are responsible for 25% of civilian casualties, most of which is attributed to the Afghan defense and security forces. In 11% of cases, those responsible could not be identified.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-07-26

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