210 children were killed up 17 per cent from the same period last year and 525 injured, out of a total of 2,181 civilian casualties\u201d
\nKABUL
\nChildren account for one-third of civilian casualties in Afghanistan\u2019s grinding conflict in the first three months of 2017, and are paying an increasingly high price in the fighting, a UN report said Thursday in Kabul.
\nFrom January to March, 210 children were killed up 17 per cent from the same period last year and 525 injured, out of a total of 2,181 civilian casualties (715 dead and 1,466 injured).
\nThe overall total is slightly down, by four per cent, compared to the same period in 2016.
\nAmong women, 88 deaths were recorded, a figure that jumped 54 per cent from last year, mainly due to aerial bombardments an increasing danger as the Afghan Air Force begins to carry out its own strikes.
\nOverall, the report showed 148 deaths and injuries from airstrikes in the first quarter, compared to 29 last year.
\n\u201cWe are extremely concerned about the increase in the number of casualties among women and children, particularly deaths,\u201d said the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which has documented civilian victims of the conflict since 2009.
\n\u201cThe 17 per cent increase in child casualties reflects the failure of parties to the conflict to take adequate precautions to protect civilians, including through marking and clearing unexploded ordnance after fighting ends,\u201d said Danielle Bell, head of human rights for UNAMA.
\nThe main cause of casualties remains fighting on the ground, claiming up 35 per cent of the victims.
\nThe number of civilians fleeing fighting hit a record high last year, said the UN, with 600,000 internally displaced which, when added to hundreds of thousands of refugees returned from Pakistan in 2016, threatens to overwhelm already meagre resources allocated to refugees.
\nThe UN blames 62 per cent of civilian casualties on anti-government elements, mainly the Taliban, who are gearing up for their spring fighting season after an unusually violent winter.
\nUnexploded mines and ammunition abandoned by fighters remained the second highest cause of civilian casualties (19 per cent of the total), with attacks marking 17 per cent.
\nKabul province had the highest number of casualties thanks to multiple attacks in the capital, followed by provinces where fighting is most sustained such as Helmand, virtually under Taliban control; Kandahar and Uruzgan in the south, and Nangarhar in the east, where the Islamic State group is in a turf war with the Taliban.
\n\u201cIt is civilians, with increasing numbers of women and children, who far too often bear the brunt of the conflict,\u201d the UN envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said.
\n\u201cWith the so-called fighting season imminent, I appeal to all parties to take every measure possible to prevent unnecessary and unacceptable harm to Afghan civilians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
210 children were killed up 17 per cent from the same period last year and 525 injured, out of a total of 2,181 civilian casualties\u201d KABUL Children account for one-third of civilian casualties in Afghanistan\u2019s grinding conflict in the first three months of 2017, and are paying an increasingly high price in the fighting, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n