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1 Civilian Casualties Rise Naweed Barikzai 1 A report on civilian casualties, published by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) evaluates civilian casualties in the first six months of The report shows that civilian causalities are 21 percent higher than last year and contrary to popular belief this rise is a result of insurgent-related attacks rather than NATO- related attacks. In reaction to the rise in casualties, Staffan de Mistura, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) in Afghanistan, extended a hard statement to all insurgent groups in Afghanistan saying that "if they want to be part of a future in Afghanistan, they cannot do so over the dead bodies of so many civilians. 2 De Mistura s response to the Taliban is adequate proceeding to the UN report which shows that civilian fatalities have increased to76 percent from 55 percent recorded in Furthermore, these figures are not only alarming for 2010 but are in fact the highest since the war began in The Taliban have rejected the authenticity of the UN report despite its thoroughness. The report adequately outlines in detail, the number of deaths that have occurred and have listed those supposed to be responsible for the attacks. The Taliban labelled the UN report as ambiguousness and considers a Pentagon propaganda campaign against the insurgency. 3 Nonetheless, tactics by the Taliban and other Anti-Government Elements (AGEs) are behind the 31 percent increase in conflict-related civilian casualties in the first six months of Naweed Barikzai, is a Research Analyst at Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies, Kabul, Afghanistan. 2 News, Sommerville BBC. "BBC News - Afghan Civilian Toll Rises Due to Insurgent Attacks: UN." BBC - Homepage. Web. 14 Oct < 3 Dougherty, From Jill. "Taliban Rejects U.N. Report on Afghan Casualties - CNN.com." CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News. Web. 14 Oct < vk4o&wom=false>.

2 compared with the same period in From 1 st January to 30 th June, 2010 the Human Rights Unit of UNAMA confirmed 3,268 civilian casualties including 1,271 deaths and 1,997 injuries. AGEs were responsible for 2,477 of the casualties while 386 were ascribed to pro-government forces, including the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan Security Forces (AFS) which made up 12 percent of all casualties; these figures show an 18 percent decrease in ISAF and AFS related-casualties compared to The Taliban are responsible for a higher percentage of civilian casualties in the southern part of the country and account for approximately six percent in Kabul. The Taliban are fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, mostly from Afghanistan s Pashtun tribes. They were overthrown in 2001 by the US-led invasion and control large parts of the south which has been historically dominated by the Pashtun ethnic communities. These communities have put up stiff resistance against the 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops fighting the insurgency. 6 The Taliban have used different methods to extend the reach of the insurgency in the country, for instance. Some of the methods they have used in the past nine years include the use of ambush, sabotage, roadside bombings, group attacks, missiles, and assassinations. Lately, a particular change can be noticed in the methods of attacks for instance the insurgency has targeted the British and U.S. troops with snipers. 7 Similarly, they are using group attacks to target ministries, hotels, and guesthouses. For instance, a suicide bomber upon entering the first floor of Ministry of Information and Culture building detonated his explosives as a group of foreign advisors were at the ministry holding a meeting. Three other militants had also participated in the attack and their objective was to fire at the soldiers to facilitate the suicide bombers entrance into the building and ended up killing six soldiers and many officials. 8 In Kabul, insurgents have increasingly begun to target guesthouses that provide accomodation for foreigners. These guesthouses are heavily fortified with a ring of steel 4 "Afghan Civilian Casualties Rise 31 Percent in First Six Months of 2010." United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Web. 14 Oct < 5 Ibid 6 Tristam, By Pierre. "History of the Taliban - Brief History of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, With Al- Qaeda and the United States." Middle East News and Issues from About.com. Web. 9 Oct < 7 "Taliban Snipers Targeting British Troops with Single Shots Mail Online." Home Mail Online. Web. 9 Oct < 8 "Taliban Claims Attack On Afghan Ministry In Kabul - Internet Terror Monitor - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 14 Oct <

3 (police check post) that secures its perimeters. 9 In total there have been two suicide attacks on guesthouses in Kabul so far. The latest attack was on 10 th of August 2010, according to eyewitness Abdul Sami, a guard for Hart private security company, two suicide bombers had shot and killed two drivers before approaching a guest house located in Taimani, Kabul went to the back side of the guesthouse and detonated their explosives killing more than 4 civilians. Kabul has been relatively quiet since 18 th January, when Taliban bombers and gunmen attacked government targets and shopping malls, killing 12 people. 10 Moreover, the attack on 10 th of August, 2010 was the second attack in Kabul since the start of the year and the tactics appeared to be the same, using multiple attackers and suicide bombers for maximum impact and the targets seem to be both on guesthouses where the foreigners died. Similarly, an attack on a UN guesthouse in October 2009 used the same tactics as well. By attacking guesthouses and other foreign residences, the Taliban have demonstrated that they can strike anywhere and at any time in the country. This method of attack showed to the Afghan government and Western forces that they have very weak control of the security situation across the country and particularly in the capital in wake of their changing combat methods. Despite an order by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar that requested insurgents to avoid putting civilian lives in danger, more than half of all civilian deaths cited in this analysis were a result of suicide attacks and insurgent attacks including assassinations and execution. The report by U.N. showed that the Taliban attacks were mainly aimed at government or international forces but civilians are always either near the target or are caught in the cross firing. A survey commissioned by ABC News, BBC, and ARD German TV found that 42 percent of 1,534 Afghan respondents now blame the rise in violence on the Taliban; this figure is up from 27 percent in The Taliban have caused a majority of civilian casualties with the use of IEDs in the southern region in 2010, which have increased the number of civilian deaths in the south by 43 percent comparing to the same period in The report also documented that the number of civilians that were executed by insurgents also rose by 95% in southern Afghanistan, which also 9 Feral Jundi Suicide attack hits Western security company in Kabul, 24 th August, "Afghanistan Capital Kabul Hit By Suicide Attack." World News. Web. 2 Aug <

4 included public executions of children. However, on the other hand, Wiki-leaks raised concerns over the number of fatalities reported as secret military documents showed that many civilians deaths were going unreported. 11 UNAMA also accused insurgents of killing seven times more civilians than international troops hence causing the human rights group, Amnesty International, to call for prosecution of the Taliban and the other insurgent groups under the doctrine of war crimes. Amnesty accused the Taliban of the systematic killing of Afghan civilians, adding that the group was becoming far bolder in doing so. 12 Sam Zarifi who is Amnesty s Asia-Pacific director said that the Taliban and other insurgents are becoming far bolder in their systematic killing of civilians. Targeting of civilians is a war crime, plain and simple The Afghan people are crying out for justice and have a right to accountability and compensation. 13 Similarly, Laurent Saillard, Director of Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) said that everyone s revising security protocol. 14 For instance, aid groups were forced to reconsider their operations after of the murder of 10 aid workers in North Afghanistan on 7 th August, Moreover, NATO forces have been leveling up the fight with close to 150,000 troops currently serving in Afghanistan, consequently this rise in the number of troops corresponds with the increase in causalities which have escalated to 426 so far, compared to 521 in The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ACOS) said that 24 had been killed since July of last year, apart from the number of UN workers or sub-contractors. In this regard, Saillard claimed that over the past five years in particular the security situation has gone down the drain. Of course that has a lot of impact on access to the field and security of NGOs. 15 Those trying to bring welfare to poor communities in the North say their task has carried greater risks since NATO opened a new supply route, which has attracted a new set of fighters. It has really aggravated in the last year, it s become horrible. Some areas [close to the route] are completely inaccessible, 16 argued the head of a Western aid organization, speaking on condition of anonymity over fears of security. The supply route has made the Afghan border with Tajikistan 11 Ibid 12 Ibid 13 Ibid 14 "Everyone s Revising Security Protocol." Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan. Web. 7 Oct < 15 Ibid 16 Ibid

5 more porous, leading to an upsurge in fighting in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Takhar. Further east in the remote Badakshan province, the bodies of five U.S. men and three women with American, German and British identities were found, in addition to two Afghans on 6 th August 2010 these NGO workers. The most plausible method of turning public opinion against the insurgency and gaining public support for the Afghan government would be to highlight the severe rises in the number of insurgency-related casualties. President Karzai who has repeatedly told NATO forces that counter-insurgency related civilian deaths sustain the insurgency, should also pass this message onto the Taliban with whom he is trying to begin a peace dialogue since civilian deaths push the Afghan peoples from both entities. Moreover, as civilian casualties rise, Afghan people s faith in the war efforts will diminish even further and wide perceptions of NATO as an occupying force will get strengthened. The former COMISAF, General Stanley McCrystal had made the reduction of civilian casualties a centrepiece of his campaign initiative. With his population centric approach, he effectively helped reduce civilian causalities by using more ground soldiers and reducing air strikes. Nonetheless, this was putting more U.S. and allied forces at risk but winning over the population is a strong tenet of counterinsurgency which McCrystal incorporated on the ground in Afghanistan. After McCrystal s release by President Obama, the new Commander of ISAF, General Petraeus, who had introduced this strategy in Iraq stated that he would follow the policy implemented by McCrystal. In the past, the U.S. military was struggling to balance the need to protect its troops or protect civilians that came in the cross fire when fighting insurgency. However, with the new policy pilots are using fewer bombs and the soldiers are using less artillery on the ground, but with the rise in conflict, particularly after NATO launched its much awaited mission in Kandahar, these efforts are sidelined by the increase in insecurity levels... Copyright 2010