KABUL, Afghanistan — Civilian casualties caused by the long and intensifying conflict in Afghanistan reached a record number in the third quarter of 2019, the United Nations said on Thursday as it reiterated a call for an urgent cease-fire. In its quarterly report documenting the harm to civilians by all sides of the conflict, the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan said civilian deaths and injuries had increased by 42 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, with 1,174 civilians killed and 3,139 wounded. In July alone, 425 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,164 wounded, making it the deadliest month since the mission started tracking civilian harm in 2009. “The harm caused to civilians by the fighting in Afghanistan signals the importance of peace talks leading to a cease-fire and a permanent political settlement to the conflict; there is no other way forward,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan. “Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable, especially in the context of the widespread recognition that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.”The uptick in civilian deaths correlates with the increased number of Afghan and American military operations that followed the collapse of the peace negotiations and the Taliban’s subsequent all-out war on the Afghan presidential elections last month.

Source: New York Times October 17, 2019 13:25 UTC