The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report said on Tuesday that Afghan civilian casualties by Afghan government and US operations exceeded the Taliban for the first time.

“Military operations between Afghan and US government forces and the Taliban intensified in 2019, causing more than 8,000 civilian casualties between January 1 and September 30. Civilian deaths from Afghan government and US operations exceeded those caused by the Taliban for the first time during the first six months of 2019, largely due to a sharp increase in US airstrikes,” it said.

In the 652-page World Report 2020, the HRW said:” US and Afghan air force operations caused over 1,000 civilian casualties in the first nine months of 2019, a 45 percent increase over 2018. More than 100 children were killed in airstrikes between January and September. On September 23, a US airstrike in the Musa Qala district of Helmand killed 40 civilians, including 5 children. A number of the victims were returning from a wedding when their vehicles were struck.”

“The Taliban carried out hundreds of attacks on Afghan government and US military targets that killed and injured civilians, the HRW report further added.

“While 2019 saw a decrease in civilian casualties from large-scale suicide attacks in urban areas, indiscriminate attacks by insurgents still caused thousands of civilian deaths and injuries. The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Kabul wedding hall on August 17 that killed 63 and wounded over 180. On March 7, an ISKP mortar attack on an event in Kabul commemorating the 24th anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara political leader, killed 11 civilians and wounded 94,” the report stated.

Elsewhere it added that US military operations intensified parallel to the peace talks. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin Scott Miller, said the US was targeting Taliban leaders “to limit their willingness to gather and plan attacks” and “set the conditions for a political settlement.” US airstrikes in Afghanistan reached record levels, with over 8,000 bombs and missiles dropped on Afghanistan between January and September.

Later on, it said that the government made progress in reducing torture in some detention facilities, but failed to hold security forces members and prominent political figures accountable for abuses, including sexual assault.

Arezo News Website – Salimi