‘Unprecedented’: UN Finds US-Backed Forces Killed More Afghan Civilians Than Taliban and ISIS Did So Far in 2019

The UNAMA report details the “increased harm to civilians from aerial and search operations” this year.

Pro-government forces carried out 43 aerial operations in the first quarter of 2019 that resulted in 228 civilian casualties (145 deaths, 83 injured), with international military forces responsible for 39 of these operations resulting in 219 civilian casualties (140 deaths, 79 injured). Women and children comprised half of the civilian casualties from all aerial operations…

Pro-government forces caused 102 civilian casualties (72 deaths and 30 injured) across 32 search operations, which is an 85 percent increase in civilian casualties as compared to the first quarter of 2018. The majority—80 percent—of the search operations resulting in civilian casualties were attributed to either the National Directorate of Security Special Forces or the Khost Protection Force, both of which are supported by international military forces. UNAMA reiterates its concern that these forces appear to act with impunity, outside of the governmental chain of command.

The report reiterates UNAMA’s demands for greater transparency and accountability for search operations and for the Afghan government “to either disband the Khost Protection Force or formally incorporate members into its armed forces.”

In response to the report, U.S. forces spokesman in Afghanistan Colonel Dave Butler told Al Jazeera: “We reserve the right of self defense of our forces as well as the Afghan Security Forces. The best way to end the suffering of non-combatants is to end the fighting through an agreed-upon reduction in violence on all sides.”

“It’s not just my family, there are dozens of families just like mine who have been lost in bombings. The people have no power… We are the ones who are dying.”
—Masih Rahman, Afghan civilian

Both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban, which controls nearly half the country, recently have urged their respective fighters to take care to avoid civilian casualties, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

After reaching a record high last year, Afghan civilian casualties declined overall in the first quarter of 2019, which the report notes was possibly influenced by harsh winter conditions in the country. The report says “it is unclear whether the decrease in civilian casualties was influenced by any measures taken by parties to the conflict to better protect civilians, or by the ongoing talks between parties to the conflict.”

In recent months, the Taliban has engaged in talks with United States but refused to negotiate directly with Ghani’s government. But as long the war continues, civilians remain at risk.

Per AP:

In September, Masih Rahman’s family of 12—his wife, four daughters, three sons and four nephews—were killed when a bomb flattened their home in the Taliban-controlled Mullah Hafiz village in central Maidan Wardak province.

“It’s not just my family, there are dozens of families just like mine who have been lost in bombings,” Rahman told The Associated Press this week. “The people have no power… We are the ones who are dying.”

Rahman, who was working in Iran at the time of the airstrike, blamed both pro-government forces and the Taliban, saying a Taliban-run prison was located just 400 meters (yards) from his home.

He has since sought redress from the U.N. and has also taken his case to Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, which put out its own report on civilian casualties on Tuesday.

The commission found that from March 2018 to March 2019, more than 11,000 Afghan civilians were killed or injured, and over the past decade, the conflict has killed at least 75,316 civilians.