Nearly 1,000 civilians were killed and almost 2,000 others injured across Afghanistan in the first four months of this year as a result of the Taliban terror campaign in the country, a senior UN official has announced.
“As of 30 April, 1,989 Afghans were injured as a result of the conflict and 978 Afghan civilians killed, throughout the country,” said Mark Bowden, the UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan, on Sunday as cited in a Monday press release by the UN’s official news service.
Addressing a the Second Independent Media and Civil Society Forum in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, Bowden, who is also the deputy head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), further expressed serious concerns that the persisting violence in the war-ravaged nation is resulting in thousands of civilian casualties, forcing families to leave their homes and seek refuge in neighboring communities.
Noting that the escalating violence across this year is taxing humanitarian capacities, he added, “At this period of increased need, it is particularly disturbing to note that humanitarian aid workers are increasingly becoming targets themselves.”
Pointing out that the number of wounded he witnessed at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul highlights the devastating impact of the conflict, the UN envoy said, “The doctors there told me that they are seeing a 50-percent increase in the number of civilians injured this year compared to the same period last year.”
There has been a major surge of violence in Afghanistan in recent weeks after the Taliban militants vowed to expand their terror campaign against government forces and installations as part of their spring offensive.
Afghanistan has witnessed growing violence committed by the Taliban militants since US-led military forces invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The massive occupation toppled the Taliban-led government from power, but insecurity still persists across the country.
