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| (c) 2012 weast |
More than 3,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during 2011, the deadliest year on record for residents of the war-torn country, according to a UN report.
A total of 3,021 civilians died last year, up eight per cent from 2,790, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Saturday in its annual report. The toll marked the fifth year in a row that the number of civilian deaths had increased.
Roadside bombs and increasingly deadly suicide attacks targeting civilians killed more people than any other type of attack, it said.
"Afghan children, women and men continue to be killed in this war in ever-increasing numbers," Jan Kubis, the UN special representative to Afghanistan, said on Saturday.
"For much too long Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war. Parties to the conflict must greatly increase their efforts to protect civilians to prevent yet another increase in civilian deaths and injuries in 2012."
"For much too long Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war. Parties to the conflict must greatly increase their efforts to protect civilians to prevent yet another increase in civilian deaths and injuries in 2012."
Single largest killer
In a statement accompanying the report, UNAMA said "the tactics of choice of anti-government elements subjected Afghan civilians to death and injury with increasingly lethal results in 2011".
"Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were the single largest killer of Afghan children, women and men in 2011," it added.
"Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were the single largest killer of Afghan children, women and men in 2011," it added.
Bombs, including roadside mines detonated by people stepping on them or vehicles driving over them, accounted for 967 deaths, UNAMA said, the biggest single killer of civilians.
Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, the Afghan capital, said the UN attributes 77 per cent of the civilian casualties to what it calls "anti-government forces".
"It says the big problems there are improvised explosive devices that are set off by vehicles or people stepping on pressure plates," she said.
"Also suicide bombings in very crowded places - [those] are the main attributes for the jump in the number of civilian deaths."
NATO air attacks
The report said forces fighting the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and its allies in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed 2,332 civilians in 2011, 14 per cent more than in 2010.
Security forces battling anti-government fighters killed 410 civilians, down four per cent from the previous year, it said.
Security forces battling anti-government fighters killed 410 civilians, down four per cent from the previous year, it said.
Most deaths attributed to NATO forces were a result of attacks from the air.
The UN mission urged the 130,000-strong NATO force to review its tactics aimed at preventing civilian loss of life in all military operations - "in particular aerial attacks".
It also called for stronger efforts to prevent civilian casualties in the night raids, which have been widely condemned, including by Karzai.
It also called for stronger efforts to prevent civilian casualties in the night raids, which have been widely condemned, including by Karzai.
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| (c) 2012 weast |
A total of 11,864 civilians have died in the conflict in Afghanistan since 2007, the report said.(Source: Aljazeera and Agencies)
Caro Gianluca,
RispondiEliminaDesideravo aggiungere qualche elemento al cuadro che ci dà. Nel periodo citato 2007-2011, per 11’864 civili sono caduti 2’360 soldati della Coalizione in Afghanistan. Vale la pena accostare queste due cifre, non perché la vita di un soldato è meno importante di quella di un civile, ma per averle in mente quando si pretende farci credere che con le tecnologie odierne le guerre sono diventate “pulite” e che la morte di civili è “un spiacente effetto collaterale”.
Per altro, visto i mezzi e metodi di guerra usati sempre più a dispetto della popolazione civile, vorrei ricordare, poiché vengono raramente citati e quasi sempre dimenticati, che esistono due Protocolli alle Convenzioni di Ginevra che ampliano la protezione di essa nei conflitti internazionali (Protocollo I) e non internazionali (Protocollo II). Tra l’altro proibiscono attacchi indiscriminati contro obbiettivi civili e atti di terrore verso la popolazione civile
(una traduzzione in italiano è disponibilie su questi link : http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/rs/0_518_521/a51.html http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/rs/0_518_522/a13.html)
Certo, chi manda senza pietà bombe umane in mezzo alla popolazione, anche se fosse a conoscenza di queste regole, non saprebbe cosa farsene; però lo Stato membro più importante della Coalizione che si considera un modello di democrazia e di rispetto dei diritti umani, ha firmato ma non ratificato questi Protocolli...
Rimane un amaro sentimento d’impunità, ma un giorno o l’altro cualcuno dovrà pur rispondere.
Al di là delle cifre o delle regole giuridiche, sono in gioco vite umane, simili alla mia, alla Sua, a quella di chi ci stà vicino. Grazie di avercelo rammentato.
A presto.
Donatella