Violence escalates in Afghanistan: more than 1,600 civilians have died so far in 2021

The Independent Commission for Human Rights in Afghanistan reported on Sunday that 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 wounded in the war in Afghanistan from January to June of this year80 percent more civilian casualties compared to the same period last year.

A total of 154 women died and 350 were injured in the conflict, while 373 children died and 1,083 were injured., according to the report published on the website of the commission.

Taliban insurgency claimed 2,978 civilian casualties (917 dead and 2,061 injured) in first six months of 2021, while government forces are responsible for 794 civilian casualties (229 dead, 565 injured). The Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) is responsible for 343 civilian casualties (104 dead, 239 injured).

For another year, explosive devices were responsible for the highest number of casualties, killing 587 civilians and injuring 1,400. The committee also warned against the proliferation of targeted assassinations, accounting for 30 percent of the total number of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2021: 696 dead, 938 injured.

Rocket fire and the use of heavy weapons accounted for 18% of the total civilian casualties, with 212 civilians killed and 728 injured, followed by suicide bombings, which left 12 dead and 79 others injured. Clashes on the ground between pro-government forces and anti-government armed groups resulted in 407 civilian casualties, including 81 civilians killed and 326 injured. The airstrikes, meanwhile, claimed 213 lives, with 77 civilians killed and 136 injured.

According to the commission’s findings, the southwestern part of the country suffered the highest number of civilian casualties, with a total of 2,131, including 681 civilians killed and 1,450 injured.

These figures thus confirm “the bloodiest moment” that the country has been going through since the commission began to make these accounts., according to the president of the organization, Shaharhad Ajbar, on his Twitter account.

Ajbar this week denounced a “storm of atrocities and violations” of human rights in this Central Asian country, which is currently plunged into an unprecedented wave of violence in recent months due to the great offensive launched by the Taliban throughout the country, taking advantage of the withdrawal of international forces.

“The time to intervene is now and all possible advantages must be used to ensure a ceasefire and the development of the peace talks.”Ajbar said.

Fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban has intensified on the outskirts of at least three major provincial capitals in the south and west of the country, including Kandahar., where civilian air traffic was suspended by insurgent mortar attacks.

In addition to Kandahar, there were intense clashes in the provinces of Helmand (southwest) and Herat (west), which are among the most populous cities in Afghanistan, amid a Taliban offensive against them. captured a record number of districts since international forces began their withdrawal from the country.

These provincial capitals are “On high alert and facing a high level of security threats”said the spokesperson for the Afghan armed forces, Ajmal Omar Shinwari, during a press conference in Kabul. “We have the capacity to defend these cities from the enemy, the situation is under control,” he added.

In Kandahar, on the outskirts of which clashes between the two camps have been taking place for weeks, the Taliban fired at least three rockets at the international airport which hit the runways.

“Civilian flights have been suspended but the army continues at the airport. We hope to reopen the runways for civilian flights this afternoon or tomorrow when they are repaired,” he told the agency. EFE the airport manager, Pashtun Masud.

In neighboring Helmand, the Taliban have gained ground in recent days towards the provincial capital, Lashkargah.

“The fighting reached the city’s first and eighth police districts, while the seventh and ninth districts were captured by the Taliban,” said the director of the provincial council. Attaullah Afghan.

“There is also fighting in other parts of Lashkargah, which has forced some people to flee although most of the citizens are trapped inside their homes,” he added.

Fighting also continues around the town of Herat for the third day in a row, and the Afghan authorities have sent hundreds of special forces soldiers and the deputy head of security at the Interior Ministry, Abdullah Rahman.

Rahman “will launch and oversee various operations to defeat and repel the Taliban in the city of Herat,” the deputy interior spokesperson told Efe, Ahmad Zia |

At least 254 Taliban fighters have been killed and 97 others injured in the past 24 hours, while 13 of 34 provinces have seen fighting.

The increase in insurgent attacks and attempts to capture provincial capitals have forced the Afghan government to fight for its existence over the past three months, as the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of l ‘Afghanistan (SIGAR) in a report.

The Taliban have stepped up their offensive in Afghanistan in recent months, capturing at least 125 of the country’s 407 districts, something unprecedented in two decades of conflict.

With information from Europa Press and EFE

KEEP READING: