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UN / AFGHANISTAN CASUALTIES
STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN CASUALTIES
TRT: 0:57
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 6 FEBRUARY 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT
1. Wide shot, flags outside the UN Headquarters
6 FEBRUARY 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General:
“A new report issued today by our colleagues at the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has detailed the highest number of civilian casualties ever recorded in a single year in the country, including record figures for children killed and injured in 2016. The alarmingly high figures have prompted the UN to call on all warring parties to take urgent steps to keep people safe. The report details more than 11,400 conflict-related civilian casualties, the highest figure since the UN began systematically documenting casualty figures in 2009. “All parties to the conflict must take immediate concrete [action] to protect the ordinary Afghan men, women and children whose lives are being shattered,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.”
4. Wide shot, press room
The United Nations (UN) called on all warring parties in Afghanistan to take urgent steps to halt the killing and maiming of civilians, as a new UN report issued today recorded the highest ever number of civilian casualties in a single year, including record figures for children killed and injured in 2016.
The report documents 11,418 conflict-related civilian casualties, including 3,498 killed and 7,920 injured. Of these, 3,512 were children - 923 dead and 2,589 injured, up 24 per cent on the previous highest recorded figure. The figures, recorded by UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), are the highest since the UN began systematically documenting civilian casualty figures in 2009.
Anti-Government forces, mainly the Taliban, were responsible for almost two thirds of the casualties while pro-Government forces were responsible for almost one quarter.
The report notes that as in 2015, ground engagements between Anti-Government Elements and Pro-Government Forces, particularly in areas populated or frequented by civilians, remained the leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by improvised explosive devices (IED), suicide and complex attacks, as well as targeted and deliberate killings.
The report also documents the increase in attacks perpetrated by Daesh/ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province), particularly targeting Shia Muslims. UNAMA documented 899 civilian casualties (209 deaths and 690 injured), a ten-fold increase from last year. The majority of the casualties caused by Daesh/ISKP occurred in three large-scale attacks on the Shia Muslim community.
Airstrikes carried out by Afghan and international forces caused 590 civilian casualties (250 deaths and 340 injured) nearly double that recorded in 2015 and the highest since 2009.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan condemned the unrelenting and devastating impact of ground engagements on civilians, as well as of the increasing number of large-scale suicide attacks that intentionally targeted civilians.
In a statement read by the spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric, today (6 Feb) in New York, Yamamoto called on all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to “take immediate concrete [action] to protect the ordinary Afghan men, women and children whose lives are being shattered.”
Together with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein Yamamoto called on all parties to minimize the use of explosive weapons in areas populated by civilians and to ensure explosive remnants of war are removed. They also stressed the need for accountability and justice for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
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