Over 9,000 civilians killed, wounded last year in Afghanistan: AIHRC

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AT-KABUL: More than 9,000 civilians were killed or injured in the past Persian year in Afghanistan, said a report issued by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).

The report said Tuesday that 9,413 civilians were victims of war and violence last year, with 3,239 killed and 6,174 injured.

“We are concerned over the increasing civilian casualties and ask the conflict sides to pay respect international humanitarian laws and avoid targeting civilians,” Belal Seddiqi, the AIHRC spokesman said.

Seddiqi accused the armed opposition groups of being responsible for 65.2 per cent of civilian casualties, saying that pro-government forces were responsible for 7.8 per cent, 0.4 per cent of civilian casualties were attributed to the rocket attacks from Pakistan soil and 26.6 per cent was not clarified.

The report shows a 15 per cent increase in civilian casualties compared to the year before last. “33.9 per cent of civilian casualties took place in the southwest, 19.8 per cent in central zone, 16.6 in east, 11.8 per cent in west, 6.7 per cent in south and 4.1 per cent in northwest.

The report comes after scores of civilians were killed and wounded in a deadly attack on a voter registration in Dasht-e-Barchi and the second in Shash Darak area in which nine journalists were among the dead. Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the conflict sides to be serious in saving civilians.

It said that 763 civilians were killed in the first quarter of the current year, while 1,495 ones injured in Afghanistan war.

Bari Arez, a military analyst asked the international community to pressure terrorist exporting countries to save Afghan lives. He said that terrorist attacks mostly target civilians and the international norms are not observed in these attacks.