Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first six months of the year were a third higher than last year, despite a drop in casualties from international and Afghan forces' activities, the United Nations said Tuesday, dpa reported.
A total of 1,271 civilians were killed and 1,997 injured from 1 January to 30 June, up 31 per cent from the same period in 2009, the UN said in its mid-year report on civilians in the conflict.
Attacks by the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 920 of the deaths and 1,557 of the injuries, or 76 per cent of all civilian casualties, it said, from 53 per cent last year.
The number of civilians killed by the Taliban's activities was up 48 per cent, the report said.
In addition to the victims of roadside bombs, the number of civilians assassinated or executed by the insurgents rose by more than 95 per cent, the report said.
"This intensified pattern of assassinations and executions reinforced the widespread perception of Afghan civilians that they are becoming more and more the primary target in this period of conflict," said Staffan de Mistura, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan.
Taliban roadside and suicide attacks killed 557 Afghans and injured 1,137 in the first six months of the year.
Casualties among Afghan women increased 6 per cent, and among children by 55 per cent, the report said. "One hundred and twenty women were killed and 151 injured, while 176 children were killed and 389 injured as result of armed conflict."
The deaths caused by NATO-led troops and Afghan forces was down 18 per cent, the UN said. Pro-government forces killed 223 and injured 163 civilians in the first six months of the year, or 12 per cent of the civilian casualties.
The drop was largely due to restrictions on foreign troops' use of air power, the report said. The number of civilians killed in NATO airstrikes was 69, a decrease of 64 per cent from last year.
General David Petraeus, the top NATO and US commander in Afghanistan, recently issued a directive to the more than 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, stressing the need to avoid civilian casualties.
"We must continue our emphasis on reducing the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum," Petraeus said Tuesday.
The general's statement said that the UN data was consistent with figures tracked by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Another report released by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission on Sunday put the total of civilians killed so far this year at 1,325.
That report said that Taliban militants were responsible for around 68 per cent of the fatalities, while Afghan and foreign troops were blamed for around 23 per cent of the other deaths.