UN raises concern over rising Afghan civilian casualties in US airstrikes

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern about the increasing number of civilian casualties resulting from airstrikes conducted by US forces this year across the violence-wracked country.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, in a statement on Tuesday said it had received "multiple, credible allegations" that a strike hit the house of a teacher in the province of Kapisa on Saturday. Nine civilians, members of the same family including three women and four children, were killed.

"UNAMA reminds all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to protect civilians from harm," the statement read.

"The Mission repeats its earlier call for government forces to uphold their commitment to regular review of targeting protocols and ensure mitigation measures and compensation for victims."

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed the civilian casualties during a joint operation by Afghan and US forces that involved air support. He said an investigation was underway.

PressTV-Civilian deaths in Afghanistan hit record high: UN

A UN report says the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first half of 2018.

In a statement on Monday, the US military in Kabul said American helicopters supporting an Afghan army operation in Kapisa came under fire from a pro-government militia that had fired in error, and returned fire in self-defense, accidentally wounding six militia members. "We have no indication of non-combatant casualties," it said.

The number of airstrikes has spiked steeply to nearly 3,000 this year across Afghanistan, with the number of bombs dropped by the US Air Force almost doubling in the first six months.

The UN said 149 civilians were killed and 204 wounded in airstrikes in the year's first half, with women and children comprising more than half of the 353 casualties. Since the figures were reported in July, the world body said it had recorded increasing numbers of civilian casualties from airstrikes.

The UN figures show that the number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict hit a record high of 1,692 fatalities in the first six months of 2018.

The reports underlined one of the problems facing General Scott Miller, the new US commander in Afghanistan who took up his post this month and must balance the need to pressure the Taliban militant group with the need to avoid civilian casualties.

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Kabul says the number of those killed in the massive US bomb attack against Daesh positions has nearly tripled from the 36 reported a day earlier.

Despite the presence of thousands of foreign boots on the ground, Afghanistan has been rocked by a surge in terrorist attacks, some of them carried out by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists mainly active in Nangarhar Province. The country has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion of the US and its allies.

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