More than 100,000 civilians have been killed or injured in Afghanistan since the United Nations began documenting casualty numbers 10 years ago.
What the UN described as a “grim milestone” with deaths surpassing 10,000 in 2019 alone came just hours after the United States and the Taliban signed a reduction in violence agreement intended to pave the way to inter-Afghan talks to end the two-decade conflict.
The continued record-high levels of harm saw 3,403 civilians killed and 6,989 injured last year, with the Taliban and other anti-government groups responsible for the majority of numbers.
“Almost no civilian in Afghanistan has escaped being personally affected in some way by the ongoing violence,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, UN’s the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. “It is absolutely imperative for all parties to seize the moment to stop the fighting, as peace is long overdue; civilian lives must be protected and efforts for peace are underway.”
A seven-day period of reduced violence began throughout Afghanistan on Saturday, preceding the signing of a US-Taliban peace agreement, but sporadic fighting has been reported in rural areas.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani – his second five-year appointment only confirmed on Tuesday after a five months delay in election results – said that “the move by the Taliban to reduce violence to a significant level is an important step towards reaching a ceasefire and restoring sustainable peace. …I want to assure you that our security and defence forces will completely honour the reduction in violence plan,” adding that operations against Al Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups within Afghanistan would be ongoing.
The UN’s report saw a 5 per cent decrease in violence over the previous year, attributed to fewer ISIS casualties.
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Afghan refugee Hukam Khan speaks about the situation in his country at the Kabobayan refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. He has been in Pakistan for 40 years after fleeing war in Afghanistan. AP Photo -
Afghan refugee children at the Kabobayan refugee camp in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan. AP Photo -
Afghan boys fight at the Kabobayan refugee camp. AP Photo -
An Afghan refugee girl holds up a small banknote in the Kabobayan refugee camp. AP Photo -
An Afghan refugee girl at the Kabobayan refugee camp. AP Photo -
Afghan refugees at the Kabobayan refugee camp in Peshawar. AP Photo -
Afghan schoolgirls leave their school in the Kabobayan refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. AP Photo -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, left, shakes hands with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after a joint press conference at the foreign ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan. AP Photo -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres listens to a reporter's question at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry in Islamabad. AP Photo
Both Afghanistan’s national army and the Taliban have been fighting to eradicate the terrorist group’s presence in the country.
Taliban casualties have increased by 21 per cent, while civilian killings and injuries by international forces have gone up 18 per cent.
The US dropped more than 7,000 bombs in airstrikes over the past year.
Musa Jan, 45, a tribal elder in the country’s remote Zabul province, lost his son four months ago.
“He was kidnapped, castrated and killed by the Taliban,” Mr Jan said. “We found his body a few days later.”
Jan’s son, a local radio journalist left three children and a wife behind. They live in a simple mud-brick compound, with the 20-year-old widow Maleika saying that she worries about the return of the Taliban.
“They killed my husband and I am afraid,” she said.
Far away, in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Rahat Gul, 45, has been mourning his son, a local pine nut farmer killed in a US drone strike that saw at least 30 other people die and a further 40 injured last September. Today, only memories and the graves remind of those deceased. “We are victims of all sides,” Mr Gul said. “Our hearts are broken.”
Afghans throughout the country hope that this week’s reduction of violence might be the start of more peaceful times – with the country having suffered forty years of deadly conflict.
“All parties to the conflict must comply with the key principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution to prevent civilian casualties,” said Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“Belligerents must take the necessary measures to prevent women, men, boys and girls from being killed by bombs, shells, rockets and improvised mines; to do otherwise is unacceptable.”
