Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Taleban fighters (photo: AP)
Civilian fatalities in Afghanistan increased in 2009, but the United States and its allies were not responsible for the majority of the deaths. According to statistics compiled by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Afghan deaths went up nearly 11% from 1,838 during January-October 2008 to 2,038 during the same period last year.
But the vast majority of civilian fatalities were caused by insurgents, based on the UN data. In fact, the proportion of deaths linked to NATO forces dropped significantly, from 38% of in 2008 to 22% in 2009.
The information was released a day after President Hamid Karzai launched an investigation into reports that 10 people, mostly school children, were killed in a raid by foreign troops near the Pakistan border.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Escalated Afghan War Brings Escalated Civilian Death (by Sardar Ahmad, Agence France-Presse)
Reality of Civilian Deaths Despite Hamid Karzai's Finger-Pointing At NATO (by Tom Coghlan, Times of London)
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