Afghan civilian casualties up 31%, UN says

The number of civilians killed or injured in Afghanistan has jumped 31%, despite a fall in the number of casualties caused by Nato-led forces.

More than 1,200 civilians were killed in the first six months of 2010 and another 1,997 civilians were injured, the latest UN six-monthly report shows.

The Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 76% of the casualties, up from 53% last year.

With overall numbers up, correspondents say Afghans feel less secure than ever.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly warned Western powers that civilian deaths caused by Nato attacks help to fuel the insurgency.

The US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus said earlier this month: "Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause."

Shortly afterwards, a Nato airstrike killed up to 25 Afghans travelling to a funeral in Nangarhar province.

The Taliban have also issued their own "code of conduct", telling fighters to avoid killing civilians.

Afghanistan Rights Monitor said the figures were a slight increase compared with the same period in 2009.

But their report said the number of people killed in Nato air strikes in the same period had halved.
Strict rules

In 2009, former Nato commander Gen Stanley McChrystal issued instructions severely limiting the circumstances in which troops could call in an airstrike or fire into buildings.

His successor, Gen Petraeus, has vowed to carry on with the policy.

In their own attempt to avoid alienating the civilian population, the Taliban issued their "code of conduct" which also forbids their fighters from seizing weapons and money.

In July, the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks leaked a swathe of documents relating to the Afghan war, which suggested that many civilian casualties were going unreported.

A UN report in January showed that civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict had risen by 14% in 2009 compared with 2008.

It said the "vast majority" of the more than 2,400 deaths had been caused by Taliban attacks.