Without de-escalation, Afghanistan could see highest civilian casualties this yr: UN

United Nations, July 26

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The UN has warned that without a “significant de-escalation” in violence in Afghanistan, the year 2021 is on course to witness the highest number of documented civilian casualties in over a decade in the country.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s ‘Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Midyear Update 2021’ documents 5,183 civilian casualties (1,659 killed and 3,524 injured), a 47 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2020.

In the report, the United Nations warns that without a “significant de-escalation in violence Afghanistan is on course for 2021 to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since UNAMA records began” in 2009.

The report said a serious concern was the acute rise in the number of civilians killed and injured in the period from May 1, as international military forces began their withdrawal and the fighting intensified following the Taliban’s offensive. — PTI

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