KABUL (AFGHANISTAN) – Nearly 6,000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of the year. Recurrent fighting between government forces and Taliban insurgents has been continuing despite efforts to find peace, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report that from January to September, there were 5,939 civilian casualties in the fighting, of which 2,117 people killed and 3,822 wounded.
The mission said in a quarterly report, “High levels of violence continue with a devastating impact on civilians, with Afghanistan remaining among the deadliest places in the world to be a civilian.”
Civilian casualties were comparatively 30% lower than last year but UNAMA said violence has failed to slow.
The Taliban were behind 45% of civilian casualties while government troops caused 23%, it said. US-led international forces were responsible for 2%.
The UN mission said ground fighting was the reason for most casualties followed by suicide and roadside bomb attacks, targeted killings by the Taliban and air strikes by Afghan troops.