The war in Afghanistan caused less civilian casualties in the first six month of this year than during the same period last year, an advocacy group said on Monday.
A total of 1,981 civilians were killed and injured between January and June of 2019, The Civilian Protection Advocacy Group said in a report. The number was 2,639 during the same period last year, it said.
According to the report, casualties considerably declined in June as 63 deaths and 134 injuries were recorded during the month.
The report attributed the decline to decrease in the number of suicide attacks.
Last month’s civilian casualties happened in 11 provinces, with Nangarhar recording the highest (46). Kabul followed with 42 casualties.
CPAG urged the warring parties to avoid violating domestic, humanitarian and Islamic laws during their operations and take more care to ensure the protection of civilians.
The report comes as Kabul was hit by a devastating attack on Monday which left dozens of people mostly civilians dead and wounded.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as seventh round of talks were ongoing between their representatives and American interlocutors led by Zalmai Khalilzad.
