Civilian casualties from the Afghan conflict declined by more than seven percent in 2019, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said in a report on Tuesday.
A total of 10,772 civilians were killed or injured in 2019, a 7.23 percent drop from the preceding year, the report said. That was made up of 2,817 killed and 7,955 injured.
Taliban were responsible for 71 percent of last year’s casualties while the Islamic State caused five percent. 14 percent of the casualties were caused by pro-government forces.
While overall casualties fell in 2019, women and children suffered more.
A total of 974 women casualties happened last year, compared to 912 in 2018. That was made up of 282 deaths and 692 injuries.
The number of casualties among children was 2,696 (445 deaths and 2,251 injured).
Improvised explosive devices were major cause of civilian casualties. Ground battles remained the second leading cause of civilian casualties.
The report stated that 803 civilians were killed and 2,333 more were wounded by IEDs. Casualties caused by suicide attacks dropped by 45 percent to 1,532.
A total of 750 civilian casualties (485 deaths and 265 wounded) happened due to airstrikes, a 21 percent drop compared with 956 in 2018.
