The Washington Post, March 10, 2011

U.N. alarmed by surge in civilian casualties in Afghanistan

Military operations by NATO and Afghan forces resulted in the deaths of 440 civilians

By Ernesto Londono

KABUL - A sharp jump in assassinations and a rise in suicide and roadside bombings in Afghanistan last year led to an increase in civilian casualties, the United Nations said Wednesday.

The United Nations documented 2,777 civilian deaths in 2010, which it said was a 15 percent rise over the number killed in fighting the previous year. The grim numbers in the U.N. annual report on civilian casualties ( http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/UNAMA/human%20rights/March%20PoC%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf ) come as the traditionally less violent winter gives way to spring, the start of Afghanistan's fighting season.

Seventy-five percent of the deaths, or 2,080, were attributed by the United Nations to the Taliban and other groups seeking to destabilize the U.S.-backed Afghan government. That represented a 28 percent increase from 2009.

Military operations by NATO and Afghan forces resulted in the deaths of 440 civilians, or 16 percent of the total, a 26 percent decrease from the number killed in 2009, the United Nations said.

Nine percent of the civilian casualties could not be attributed, the United Nations said.

Suicide attacks and makeshift bombs accounted for the most deaths, killing 1,141 people. The report said the most "alarming trend" was a surge in assassinations carried out by insurgents. At least 462 civilians were assassinated by groups opposing the government last year, a 105 percent increase over 2009.

Airstrikes were the leading cause of civilian deaths caused by NATO forces, resulting in the killing of 171 civilians last year, the U.N. report said.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander here, and his predecessor, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, have taken steps to reduce civilian casualties. The accidental deaths of civilians have strained the relationship between NATO and the Afghan government and have bolstered the Taliban's effort to depict foreign soldiers as merciless invaders.

The U.N. report was issued a week after nine children were mistakenly killed in an airstrike while collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan.

Also Wednesday, NATO officials said that troops in Nimruz province in southwestern Afghanistan recently intercepted a shipment of rockets believed to have been supplied by the Iranian government.

The seizure of 48 122mm rockets raised alarm that Iran could be making a renewed attempt to engage in a proxy war with the United States and its allies in the face of stepped-up sanctions. NATO officials said the rockets have a range of about 12 miles, approximately double the range of the insurgents' similar weapons.

A statement issued by the British government expressed alarm about the rockets, saying they were "destined for the Taliban."

Iran denies that it is aiding the Taliban.

A soldier, his wife and four children were killed in a NATO overnight raid in the Qilgha village in eastern Afghanistan on February 21, 2011. (Photos: RAWA)

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