The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has said that 29 civilians have been killed or injured every day during the first six months of this year.
A total of 1,677 people were killed and 3,644 were injured in 1,594 separate incidents in Afghanistan during the same period, the Commission said in a new report. These figures show an 80% increase in the number of victims compared to the same period in 2020. Last year, a total of 1,213 people and 1,744 people were injured in about 880 security incidents during the first six months.
According to the report, the Taliban were responsible for 56 percent of the civilian casualties recorded, and 22 percent of the casualties were attributed to unknown individuals. Government forces are also responsible for 15 percent of civilian casualties, and the IS-K is responsible for 7 percent of fatalities.
In terms of gender, 154 women were killed and 350 others were injured in the first six months of the year, according to the report. This means that this figure has increased by about 70% compared to the same period last year. The number of children killed was 373 and the number of injured was estimated at 1,083, which is almost three times more than the same period last year.
In other news, Shakib Shams and Estoray Karimi, two local reporters of Salam Watandar and Pajhwok news agency, were released by the Taliban after being captured by them for a while.
Shams said that he and his wife were captured by Taliban when they went to Pul-e Malan for news coverage. He added that they were taken to the group’s shadow district governor for questioning and their mobile phones were also checked. Shams, in connection with the incident wrote: “Moments ago, we went to Pul-e Malan to cover news, everything was normal. Two tanks of the National Army were present in the area. When we were 50 meters from the tank, suddenly someone shot at us in our car. Then, the Taliban took us to their district governor and when we introduced ourselves as journalists, they checked our mobile phones and then, released us after 20 minutes.”
Afghan Independent Journalists Association while appreciating the fact that the Taliban did not harass the journalists, called on the parties involved to provide accurate and timely guidance to journalists who are civilians and when they enter their area.
On the other hand, Taliban carried out offensive attacks in the areas of Qara Parchab, Panjshiri Qeshlaq, Abdal and the airport areas, which were repulsed by the joint security and defense forces and popular uprisings, leaving dozens dead and wounded. Security and defense forces and popular uprising forces with high combat morale repulsed the attacks and have strong strongholds in all parts of Takhar and will prevent any movements and attacks of the insurgents.
Also, General Abdul Rahman Rahman, Senior Deputy Interior Minister for Security, arrived in Herat province on Sunday. In a meeting with General Abdul Sabur Qane, Governor of Herat Province, Rahman praised the courage of the security forces and the resistance of the people’s forces against the Taliban, and assured that special units would suppress the enemy. The governor of Herat also called the spirit of supporting the system among the various strata hopeful and expressed confidence in the success of the hand-to-hand operations.
