The number of civilians killed in the Afghan war jumped last year to 2,412, making 2009 the deadliest year for ordinary Afghans since the US-led invasion, the United Nations said Wednesday. The vast majority of the dead were killed in Taliban attacks, the UN's Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) said. By comparison, 2,118 civilians were killed in 2008.
"The intensification and spread of the armed conflict in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on civilians throughout 2009," the report said. Last year was also the deadliest for foreign forces fighting the Taliban, with 520 troop deaths, up from 295 for the year before, as the insurgency has escalated and spread from the southern provinces where it began soon after the Taliban regime was overthrown in the 2001 invasion.
The UN report said 67 percent of last year's civilian deaths, or 1,630, were in insurgent attacks, while pro-government forces including Nato and US troops were responsible for 25 percent, or 596 civilian deaths last year.
The UN had earlier reported that deaths in Taliban attacks accounted for 70 percent of deaths, or 1,681, but told reporters in a briefing the figure had been revised downwards. The UN revised upwards the number of civilians killed in violence not attributable to the conflicting parties, to 186 from 135.
Civilian deaths caused by Western troops fell 28 percent last year compared to the year before, it said, attributing the drop to measures taken specifically to protect civilians. The UN report said the change in Nato forces' command structure, "specific steps to minimise civilian casualties" and "a new tactical directive" by the force contributed to the reduction in non-combatant deaths.
While Taliban influence has been spreading to previously peaceful areas - and now has a footprint across 80 percent of the country, according to the London-based International Council on Security and Development - the UN said 45 percent of deaths were in the south where the insurgency is concentrated.
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