The Taliban is responsible for 62 blasts and an additional 6 suicide bombings in the last 11 days, killing 63 civilians and wounding 180 more, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement on Sunday.
“Women and children are also among the victims,” the statement said, adding that “Taliban fighters–including commanders–have also been killed in response” by security forces.
The Taliban has not yet commented on the MoI statement.
On April 14, a new UN report indicated that 573 civilians were killed and 1,210 more were wounded in the first three months of this year, a 29 percent increase compared with the same period in 2020.
The report says that “extraordinary levels of harm inflicted on civilians” in the Afghan conflict continues unabated.
Of particular concern is the 37 percent increase in the number of women killed and injured, and a 23 percent increase in child casualties compared with the first quarter of 2020, the report said.
In the six months between October 2020 and March 2021, UNAMA recorded a 38 percent increase in civilian casualties compared with the same period one year earlier, the report says, adding that it is worth noting that in February 2020, both Afghan government forces and the Taliban agreed to a week’s reduction in violence, which immediately and significantly reduced the scale of harm to Afghan civilians, demonstrating that political commitment can save Afghan lives.
The report says the overall increase in civilian casualties in the first quarter of 2021 was mainly driven by the same trends that caused the increase at the end of last year: ground engagements; improvised explosive devices; and targeted killings.
“Anti-government elements continued to be responsible for the majority (61 percent) of all civilian casualties in the first three months of 2021, while pro-government forces continued to cause approximately one quarter (27 percent) of the total civilian casualties,” the report said.
According to the report, in the first three months of 2021, UNAMA documented increases in the number of civilian casualties as compared to the first quarter of 2020, attributed to both the Afghan army and the Taliban, with the Taliban responsible for 43.5 percent of all civilian casualties, and the Afghan national army responsible for 17 percent.
