Some 11,500 Civilians Killed and Wounded in 2016 in Afghanistan

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that civilian casualties increased 24 percent in 2016 compared to 2015. The yearly UN report issued today stated that some 11,500 civilian men, women, and children were killed and wounded in conflict-related violence. “The killing and maiming of thousands of Afghan civilians is deeply harrowing and largely preventable,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. “All parties to the conflict must take immediate concrete measures to protect the ordinary Afghan men, women and children whose lives are being shattered.”  The report further stated that 3,498 civilians were killed, 7,920 injured in 2016. Of these, 3,512 were children. The report also noted that as in 2015, ground engagements between Anti-Government Elements and Pro-Government Forces, particularly in areas populated or frequented by civilians, remained the leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by improvised explosive devices (IED), suicide and complex attacks, as well as targeted and deliberate killings. Yamamoto, who is also head of UNAMA, condemned the unrelenting and devastating impact of ground engagements on civilians, as well as of the increasing number of large-scale suicide attacks that intentionally targeted civilians.