Afghanistan More Deadly for Women and Children, U.N. Says
"Not only do they injure and kill innocent people in the most horrific way,
but they cause untold distress and trauma, especially for children, often leading to serious psychosocial issues and impacting their longer-term development." The report blamed antigovernment forces for 67 percent of the civilian casualties, holding the Taliban responsible for 43 percent, the Islamic State for 5 percent and unidentified groups for 19 percent.
By MUJIB MASHAL and TAIMOOR SHAHJULY 17, 2017
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan has grown more deadly this year for women, children
and other residents of the capital, the United Nations mission in the country said on Monday, even as the violence is expected to intensify in the coming months with no hope of peace talks any time soon.
Roughly 40 percent of all civilian casualties — 596 deaths
and 1,483 injuries — resulted from the insurgents’ use of such explosives, including suicide bombs, the report said.
Ninety-four percent of the roughly 1,000 casualties in Kabul resulted from suicide bombings, the largest of which killed more than 90 people
and wounded close to 500 when a truck full of explosives went off near the city’s diplomatic enclave.
A record number of civilians — 1,662 — were killed in the first six months of 2017,
a 2 percent increase from the same period last year, the mission reported.
The leading causes of casualties among women were attacks, including suicide bombings, in highly populated civilian areas like Kabul, the capital.
A United States military raid last Thursday on the outskirts of Tarinkot city, the capital of
Uruzgan Province in the south, resulted in civilian casualties, residents and officials said.
