The UN said on Tuesday there has been a significant number of civilian casualties in attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power, despite a reduction in casualties compared to previous years of the war.
A report from the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted that since the Taliban regime came to power in August 2021 and through the end of May, 3,774 people had died, including 1,095 in acts of violence in the country.
In an earlier report, the UN mission had counted 8,820 civilian deaths, with 3,035 in 2020.
The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US and NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades of war.
Three-quarters of the recorded attacks since the beginning of the Taliban regime were carried out with improvised explosive devices in “populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets,” the UN document said.
The dead included 92 women and 287 children.
UNAMA has stated this in a statement Most of the improvised explosive device attacks were claimed by the extremist group Islamic State in Khorasan province, a subsidiary of the Islamic State (IS).
However, a “significant number” of deaths resulted from attacks that were never claimed or that the UN mission could not attribute to any group.
The UN document also expressed concern about “the lethality of suicide attacks” since the Taliban seized power, with fewer attacks resulting in more civilian deaths.
The report further indicated that the attacks came in the midst of a general financial and economic crisis in the country. With less external funding, victims have struggled to access “medical, financial and psychosocial support” after the regime’s takeover of power, the document said.
The UN agency called for an immediate halt to the attacks and said it held the Taliban government responsible for security in Afghanistan.
For their part, the Taliban claimed that the government took power when Afghanistan was “on the verge of collapse” and managed to “rescue the country and government from crisis” through sound decision-making and good management.
Since August 2021, the situation has gradually improved, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a response, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.
“Security has been ensured across the country,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the regime considers the security of places of worship and holy shrines, including Shiites, a priority.
Despite initial promises, which pointed to more moderate governance, in 2021 the Taliban imposed strict regulations in the country, banning girls’ education from 6th grade and preventing Afghan women from participating in public life and most jobs . , including non-governmental organizations and the UN.
Source: DN
