UNITED NATIONS: The number of children killed and injured in the US-led war in Afghanistan increased by 34 percent in 2013, the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report released on Saturday.
The UNAMA is a political mission established by the Security Council in 2002 at the request of the Afghan government to assist it and the people in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development in the country.
The UN mission said that 561 children and 235 women were among those 2,959 civilians who were killed in Afghanistan last year. It said that more than 5,600 others including 1,195 children and 511 women were also wounded in 2013.
“It is the awful reality that most women and children were killed and injured in their daily lives — at home, on their way to school, working in the fields or traveling to a social event,” said Georgette Gagnon, director of human rights for the UN mission.
The report further said that overall civilian casualties jumped by 14 percent in 2013 as by comparison, 2,768 civilians were killed and 4,821 others wounded in 2012.
Moreover, the UNAMA in its report blamed the Taliban for nearly 75 percent of the civilian casualties. Its report said that roadside bombs planted by pro-Taliban militants caused most civilian casualties, accounting for 34 percent of deaths and injuries last year.
