Civilian casualties remain near record high levels in Afghanistan

12 Oct 2017

Civilian casualties remain near record high levels in Afghanistan

KABUL - Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan remained near record high levels in the first nine months of the year, largely as a result of ground engagements, new data from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) indicates.

Altogether, from 1 January to 30 September 2017, UNAMA documented 8,019 civilian casualties (2,640 deaths and 5,379 injured), representing an overall decrease in civilian casualties of six per cent compared to the same period in 2016. Civilian deaths increased by one per cent while the number of injured civilians reduced by nine per cent.

As ground engagements continued to cause most civilian casualties, suicide and complex attacks, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) took a heavy toll on Afghan civilians, with those living in the provinces of Kabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Kandahar, and Faryab suffering the heaviest losses.

Read the full report here: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.