Amid Afghan peace hopes, UN reminds of human cost of the war – 10,000 lives for 6th year in a row

In a telling reminder of the human cost of the Afghan war, the United Nations Saturday said the conflict claimed more than 10,000 civilian lives for sixth successive year and urged all parties to renounce violence and work for peace.

The report, entitled Afghanistan Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2019 says more than 10,000 civilians in Afghanistan were killed and injured last year.
“Almost no civilian in Afghanistan has escaped being personally affected in some way by the ongoing violence,” Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said.

The report comes as the U.S. steps up efforts to conclude the longest and one of the most expensive conflicts in American history.

Starting this weekend, the United States, which invaded the country following 9/11 terror attacks, and the Taliban, who launched a deadly insurgency, will observe a reduction in violence agreement, which would lead to a peace accord.

According to a Pew Research analysis most Americans see the Afghan and Iraq wars as waste of resources.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. and Taliban will sign a peace agreement by the end of this month – a development which could lead to a drawdown of American troops and eventually end the war as promised by President Trump.

The Taliban insurgents have targeted the Afghan security forces as well as civilians, compounding problems for the fragile government in Kabul – which recently had a contentious election and is also confronted with vicious ISIS attacks.

The UN report documents 3,403 civilians killed and 6,989 injured – with the majority of the civilian casualties inflicted by anti-Government elements.

“It is the sixth year in a row that the number of civilian casualties has exceeded 10,000,” the United Nations said.

After more than a decade of systematically documenting the impact of the war on civilians, the UN found that in 2019 the number of civilian casualties had surpassed 100,000.
“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”, stressed Mr. Yamamoto.

The figures outlined in the report, released jointly by UNAMA and the UN Human Rights Office, represent a five per cent decrease over the previous year, mainly due to a drop in civilian casualties caused by the terrorist group ISIL, the UN News Center reported.

However, civilian casualties caused by the other parties rose, including a 21 per cent increase by the Taliban and an 18 per cent surge by the international military forces, mainly due to an increase in improvised explosive device attacks and airstrikes, it said.

“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.