KABUL (SW) – The raging conflict killed more than 200 people in the past one week alone.
Estimates by Salam Watandar indicate that these casualties took place in Faryab, Helmand, Kunduz, Kandahar, Farah, Herat, Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan, Zabul, Ghor, Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Uruzgan and Takhar provinces.
In the past week, the provinces of Faryab, Helmand, Kandahar, Kunduz, Farah, Herat, Sar-e Pol, Jawzjan, Pul-e-Khumri, Zabul, Ghor, Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Uruzgan and Takhar have witnessed battles between security forces and the Taliban.
Among these provinces, Farah, Faryab, Kandahar and Kunduz had the highest civilian casualties.
Local authorities said 142 security and defense forces, 155 Taliban, 77 civilians and 7 members of uprising force have been killed in the provinces in the past week, and 97 security and defense forces, 63 Taliban, 42 civilians and 11 members of the uprising were injured.
According to local officials in Farah, Faryab, Kunduz and Kandahar, the casualties were caused as a result of Taliban offensive, security operations, roadside explosions and terrorist attacks.
Shah Mahmoud Naimi, deputy chief of the Farah Provincial Council, said 34 civilians and 6 soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Ab Khurma district last week, while two officials of the NDS and a police officer killed in Farah city. Farah police spokesman Mohebullah Moheb also confirmed the death toll in the province.
After Farah, Ghazni and Faryab suffered the most casualties. According to local officials in Ghazni, 83 armed Taliban, 9 security forces and 4 civilians were killed in the past week as a result of security and defense operations in the province. They said 31 Taliban, 27 security forces and 5 other civilians were also wounded in the operation.
Fazl al-Haq Mohammadi, a member of the Faryab Provincial Council, told SW that eight local soldiers and 12 commandos were killed as a result of clashes between security forces and the Taliban in Balcharagh district. Alozay Ahmadi, head of Parwan Provincial Coordination Center, said 10 civilians, 3 policemen and 11 armed Taliban were killed in clashes between security forces and the Taliban in the past week. According to him, 15 security forces, including one civilian and nine Taliban were wounded.
In the past week, Herat's Kashk Koha and Shindand districts also witnessed heavy Taliban attacks.
Wakil Ahmad Karkhi, head of Herat's provincial council's security committee, said the Taliban attacked a local army and police station last week killing 11 and wounding five others. Farzad Forutan, police spokesman, confirmed Taliban attacks on the police station, but said four policemen were killed in the attack.
Five civilians were killed and five others were wounded last week as a result of Taliban clashes in Shindand district of Herat. According to local authorities, 10 armed Taliban militants were killed and 10 others were wounded in the fighting.
According to reports, a week of clashes between security forces and the Taliban killed 10 civilians and 10 security forces in Kandahar. At least 10 militants have been killed in Helmand, 10 policemen killed in Kunduz, 7 security forces killed in Uruzgan, 8 government forces and 5 civilians killed in Zabul, 3 policemen and 7 army forces killed in Ghor, 6 security forces killed in Jawzjan, 5 security forces killed in Takhar, 4 policemen killed in Sar-e-Pul, 5 government forces killed in Pul-e Khumri, and 7 members of uprising force killed in Samangan.
UNAMA said in a report on Saturday that as peace efforts have intensified in recent weeks so too has the conflict on the ground. UN findings showed that more than 1,500 civilians were killed and injured, the highest number of any month this year, and the highest number documented in a single month since May 2017. The main driver in July was a sharp rise in civilian casualties caused by Anti-Government Elements (AGEs), it said.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, has urged all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace. “Escalating the conflict will have one primary result: greater loss of civilian life. Now is the time to demonstrate restraint and real respect for the lives of ordinary Afghan civilians”, he stressed.
Last month, in its mid-year report, UNAMA documented 3,812 civilian casualties (1,366 deaths and 2,446 injured) in the first half of 2019. Civilian deaths attributed to pro-government forces exceeded those caused by anti-government elements for the second quarter in succession, the report showed.
According to the report, women and children continued to be disproportionately impacted by the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Up to 30 June 2019, the conflict caused 430 women casualties (144 deaths and 286 injured) and 1207 casualties among children (327 deaths and 880 injured).
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