Syeda Mazhar
Afghanistan has been unfortunate to have experienced constant instability. Lethal violence has become so endemic it is barely reported. In the first six months of 2018, the armed conflict continued to destroy the lives and livelihoods of civilians at the same toxic levels as the last decade. From 1 January to 30 June 2018, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented 5,122 civilian casualties (1,692 deaths and 3,430 injured) – a three per cent overall decrease from last year – reflecting the same levels of harm to civilians as those documented in during the same period in 2017 and 2016. Civilian deaths increased by one per cent while the number of civilians injured decreased by five per cent.
The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan reached a record in the first half of the year, despite last month’s ceasefire, with a surge in suicide attacks claimed by Islamic State, the United Nations has said. Hundreds of civilians died in attacks on targets as diverse as Shia shrines, offices of government ministries and aid groups, sports events and voter registration stations.
While the country still recoups from the aftermath of the war and the prevailing terrorism, Improvised explosive device (IED) use in attacks by Anti-Government Elements still remain the leading cause of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2018. The combined use of suicide and non-suicide IEDs caused nearly half (45 per cent) of all civilian casualties. Ground engagements were the second leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by targeted and deliberate killings, aerial operations, and explosive remnants of war. Civilians living in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Faryab, Helmand, and Kandahar were most impacted by the conflict.
“UNAMA continued to document the toxic consequences of this conflict, with Afghan boys and girls killed, maimed, sexually assaulted, abused, recruited and used by parties to the conflict,” said Danielle Bell, UNAMA’s human rights chief.
Amidst continued reports of significant increases in airstrikes, during the first six months of 2018, the mission documented 353 civilian casualties (149 deaths and 204 injured) from aerial attacks, a 52 per cent increase from the same period in 2017. 11 Of particular concern, women and children continued to comprise more than half of all aerial attack civilian casualties and the number of child casualties from these attacks increased by 64 per cent compared to the first half of 2017.
Isis, also known as Daesh, was said to be responsible for 52% of casualties from suicide and complex attacks, while 40% were attributed to the Taliban. Isis, also known as Daesh, was said to be responsible for 52% of casualties from suicide and complex attacks, while 40% were attributed to the Taliban. At the same time, casualties from airstrikes, which have risen sharply under the US strategy of trying to force the Taliban to accept peace talks, rise by 52%, with 353 casualties including 149 dead and 204 wounded.
Yet increased US military pressure does seem to be having some impact. Earlier this month, the Taliban, which has been fighting to restore Islamic rule in Afghanistan since its 2001 ousting by US-led forces, proposed direct talks with the US, while insisting all American forces withdraw first.
The Afghan government opposed the initiative, saying the Taliban must talk to it, not Washington. That is a process Ghani is trying to kickstart by offering to recognise the Taliban, which he previously dismissed as rebels” and “terrorists”, as a legitimate political group.
This year, however, has seen an increased U.S. military campaign against the so-called Islamic State–Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS-KP, the Islamic State’s local affiliate with a presence in several eastern Afghan provinces. The families of thousands of civilians killed by US forces in Afghanistan have been left without justice or compensation, the law makers have said in a damning indictment of the US military as it withdraws from the country. “After any incident in which civilians have been killed by US forces, (the US must) ensure … wherever there is sufficient admissible evidence, suspects are prosecuted,” said the Amnesty report entitled “Left in the Dark”.
It has been a noted concern, about an emerging trend of targeting of education by Anti-Government Elements as a reaction to operations by Pro-Government Forces. In Nangarhar province, through the month of June, the UNAMA recorded 13 related incidents attributed to Daesh/ISKP following threats by the group to target girls’ schools in retaliation for aerial attacks. The group targeted education officials and schools and undertook a complex attack against the department of education offices in Jalalabad, causing a total of 23 civilian casualties (six deaths and 17 injured). In Charkh District of Logar province, UNAMA recorded the closure of 29 schools by the Taliban following a Pro-Government Forces operation affecting one of their commanders’ houses at the end of March.
