Women, children casualties rising in Afghanistan, UN says

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since the United Nations began systematically keeping count in 2009, a UN report said Monday.

The war-torn country saw a 47 per cent increase in the number of all civilians killed and wounded in violence across Afghanistan in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year, according to the report.

“I implore the Taliban and Afghan leaders to take heed of the conflict’s grim and chilling trajectory and its devastating impact on civilians,” said Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan. “The report provides a clear warning that unprecedented numbers of Afghan civilians will perish and be maimed this year if the increasing violence is not stemmed.”

The Taliban have swiftly captured significant territory in recent weeks, seized strategic border crossings with several neighbouring countries and are threatening a number of provincial capitals.

The report found a particularly sharp increase in killings and injuries since May, when international military forces began their withdrawal and the fighting intensified following the Taliban’s offensive.

The UN mission in Afghanistan reported in its Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict midyear update 2021 that there were 1,659 civilians killed and 3,254 wounded. It said that’s a 47 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

Women and children made up close to half of all civilian casualties in the first half of 2021 at 46 per cent, according to the report. Thirty-two per cent were children, with 468 killed and 1,214 wounded. Fourteen per cent of civilian casualties were women, with 219 killed and 508 wounded, the report said.

The U.S.-NATO withdrawal is due to be finished by Aug. 31.