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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 21 April 2006

AFGHANISTAN: Rights groups critical of upsurge in civilian casualties

KABUL, 20 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - Rights groups have expressed concern about the killing of civilians during Afghan and US-led coalition operations targeting insurgents in the country’s restive southern and eastern regions.

More than 20 civilians have been killed or wounded during counter-insurgency operations this week in south and eastern Afghanistan, according to local news outlets.

“We have repeatedly asked the Afghan and US-led coalition forces to avoid civilian casualties during military operations but regrettably innocent local people are still being killed and wounded,” Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), said on Wednesday in the capital, Kabul.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants have been waging an insurgency since the Taliban were toppled by a US-led offensive in late 2001.

The AIHRC wants the government and US-led coalition forces to work more closely together and act on more accurate information on targets. Sometimes suspected militant bases are attacked on the basis of unreliable information – resulting in civilians uninvolved in the conflict suffering death and injury.

Other say such “collateral damage” could contribute to the insurgency by turning angry local people to the rebels. “Civilian casualties during military operations will further fuel insurgency and instability in the country,” Aziz Rafee, director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF) in Kabul, said.

The US military has announced an investigation into an air strike in the eastern province of Kunar province on Saturday night that killed seven civilians and wounded three.

US soldiers shot up a car on Monday night in the eastern province of Khowst, wounding three women and a newborn baby returning from a hospital, according to district officials.

A man and a 7-year-old boy were wounded on Tuesday in a shooting by US soldiers on the edge of the same province, according to Mohammad Ayoub, chief of Khowst police.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also ordered an investigation into the Kunar killings, calling on his forces to ensure the safety of ordinary people whilst battling insurgents. “The killing of civilians is unacceptable and should not be allowed to happen again,” Karim Rahimi, presidential spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) echoed these concerns: ”Any loss of life is regrettable and this is an issue of concern for us here at UNAMA and it is obviously something we will be raising with the proper authorities.” Aleem Siddique, senior media relations officer at UNAMA said.

Insecurity remains a key issue in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Despite the deployment of thousands of US and NATO forces, around 1,700 people died in conflict-related violence in 2005 alone.

[ENDS]

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006