Sharp rise in civilian casualties in Afghanistan - UN
AFGHANISTAN: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by almost 30
percent in the first three months of 2013, a UN envoy has said,
describing a recent Taliban attack on court staff as a “war crime”. Jan
Kubis, UN special representative for Afghanistan, said the “troubling”
rise, compared to the same period last year, followed a 12 percent drop
in civilian casualties over the whole of 2012. He told a NATO
ministerial briefing in Brussels on Tuesday that 475 civilians were
killed and 872 wounded from January to March.
“I once again call on anti-government groups to cease targeting
civilians, using children in suicide operations and attacking public
places including places of worship,” Kubis said, in a copy of a speech
released by the UN in Kabul.
The UN official described an April 3 attack on a court complex in the
western city of Farah as “nothing less than a war crime”. Taliban
statements that courthouses and judicial staff are now considered
targets “are of extreme concern”, he said.
AFP
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