KABUL: The number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan jumped 22 percent in 2014, the UN said on Wednesday, as NATO troops withdrew from combat leaving government forces to battle a raging Taliban insurgency.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan attributed the rise to intensification in ground fighting, resulting in a total of 10,548 civilian casualties last year, compared with the 2013 figure of 8,637.
The number of civilian deaths rose 25 percent to 3,699 while the number of injured was up 21 percent to 6,849, and the total casualty figure is the highest recorded in a single year since the UN began compiling its reports in 2009.
The total number of civilian casualties since 2009 now stands at 17,774 killed and 29,971 injured.
UNAMA had previously noted a leap in civilian casualties linked to the intensification in ground fighting between government and insurgent forces, in its last report published in July 2014.
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