In These New Times

PressTV

27th September, 2009

A United Nations report has noted that a total of 1,500 civilians have lost their lives in insurgency-hit Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to August.

The UN said in a new report that NATO air strikes were to blame for about a quarter of civilian deaths across the war-ravaged country over the past months.

The report also warns that August had the most fatalities this year for the civilians because of a presidential vote that was marred by the allegations of fraud and Taliban intimidation.

“In terms of the numbers of security incidents we saw, this represented a new high,” said Adrian Edwards, the UN spokesman in Afghanistan.

An Associated Press count found a total of 174 civilians were killed in the deadly month of August.

Hundreds of other civilians have died either in US-led airstrikes or in Taliban-led insurgency across the conflict-torn country, according to the report.

The developments come at a time when the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said that investigators are studying evidence of alleged crimes against humanity in Afghanistan.

Despite the presence of over 100,000 troops in the war-torn country, Afghanistan is witnessing the highest level of violence since the 2001 US invasion of the impoverished country.

A security map by the London-based International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the war-ravaged country.

The insurgency has skyrocketed in southern and eastern Afghanistan where the Taliban has stepped up attacks against the coalition troops with roadside bombs and ambushes.