First six months of 2011 deadliest for Afghan civilians 14.07.11
4The first six months of this year have been the deadliest for Afghan civilians since the war began 10 years ago. That's according to a UN report out today that reveals a record 1,462 civilians were killed in first half of this year -- a rise of 15 percent. Taliban roadside bombs and suicide attacks are blamed for 80 percent of the deaths -- up nearly a third on the same period last year. But increased ground fighting and more deadly air strikes by Apache attack helicopters are also cited. The report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says: "The rising tide of violence and bloodshed in the first half of 2011 brought injury and death to Afghan civilians at levels without recorded precedent in the current armed conflict," adding that plans to hand over security in parts of the country helped fuel the rise in casualties. "Violence rose as (insurgents) sought to demonstrate that Afghan security forces could not manage security on their own," the report says. Pro-government forces, including the Afghan Police and Army and NATO-led troops were responsible for 14 percent of civilian deaths, a drop of 9 percent. But air strikes, one of the most controversial tactics in the war, killed more people. The mid-year report found that air strikes carried out by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were the leading the cause of civilian deaths by pro-government forces, so far killing 79 civilians in 2011, up 14 percent. Apache attack helicopters played a much more prominent role. A third of civilian deaths attributed to air strikes in 2010 were caused by those aircraft, while in the first half of 2011 they were responsible for 56 percent of air strike deaths. The UN also warned the full picture could be even worse, as the report did not include data from the northern region of Afghanistan between March and June, because the UN office there was closed after it was overrun by a mob that killed seven UN staff. "It may be that UNAMA is under-reporting civilian casualties given limitations associated with the operating environment," the report said.