Afghanistan: rise in women and children casualties

The UN on Aug. 5 said that a new report (PDF) shows a significant increase in the number of women and children being hurt or killed in Afghanistan's war with the Taliban and other insurgents. The number of total casualties in the conflict rose by approximately one percent in the first half of this year, but the number of women casualties has risen by 23% and the number of child casualties has risen by 13%. The director of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Danielle Bell, stated that she believes the increase in casualties is due to ground fighting, and attributed 70% of the deaths to insurgents. Out of the over 4,900 civilian casualties in the first half of 2015, there have been 559 women casualties (164 deaths and 395 injuries) and 1,270 child casualties (320 deaths and 950 injuries).

From Jurist, Aug. 6. Used with permission.

  1. Fourteen years of Afghan war casualties

    The Costs of War website at the Watson Institute calculates the number of casualties in Afghanistan since the US invasion of 2001, putting the figure at 92,000 killed, of which 26,000 were civilians. Nearly 100,000 people have been injured. 

    Of course, Afghanistan hardly at peace when the US invaded in 2001. We'd be curious to know the figure from the previous 12 years, from the Soviet pull-out to the US invasion.