(18 Feb 2015) The number of civilians killed or wounded in fighting in Afghanistan climbed by 22 percent in 2014 to reach the highest level in five years as foreign troops concluded their combat mission, the UN said in an annual report released on Wednesday.
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom and UNAMA (United Nation Assistance Mission for Afghanistan) Human Rights Director Georgette Gagnon spoke at a news conference in Kabul on Wednesday and provided further details.
UNAMA documented 10,548 civilian casualties in 2014, the highest number in a single year since 2009.
They include 3,699 civilian deaths, up 25 percent from 2013.
The UN said the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 72 percent of all civilian casualties, with government forces and foreign troops responsible for just 14 percent.
The UN report attributed the rise in casualties to intensified ground fighting, in which weapons like mortars, rockets and grenades are used in populated areas, sometimes indiscriminately.
For the first time since 2009, more Afghan civilians were killed and injured by ground fighting than by any other tactic, including roadside bombs, the report said.
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