Kabul: The number of civilians killed in
the Afghan war jumped last year to 2,412, making 2009 the
deadliest year for ordinary Afghans since the US-led invasion,
the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The vast majority of the dead were killed in Taliban
attacks, the UN's Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) said. By
comparison, 2,118 civilians were killed in 2008.
"The intensification and spread of the armed conflict
in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on civilians
throughout 2009," the report said.
Last year was also the deadliest for foreign forces
fighting the Taliban, with 520 troop deaths, up from 295 for
the year before, as the insurgency has escalated and spread
from the southern provinces where it began soon after the
Taliban regime was overthrown in the 2001 invasion.
The UN report said 67 per cent of last year's civilian
deaths, or 1,630, were in insurgent attacks, while
pro-government forces including NATO and US troops were
responsible for 25 per cent, or 596 civilian deaths last year.
The UN had earlier reported that deaths in Taliban
attacks accounted for 70 per cent of deaths, or 1,681, but
told reporters in a briefing the figure had been revised
downwards.
The UN revised upwards the number of civilians killed
in violence not attributable to the conflicting parties, to
186 from 135.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 22:46