Afghan civilian casualties soar 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7618906.stm

Published: 2008/09/16 14:53:27 GMT

There has been a sharp increase in the number of civilian casualties in
Afghanistan this year, according to new figures released by the United
Nations. 

They show that August had the highest number of deaths since the overthrow
of the Taleban almost seven years ago. 

The UN says that from January to August 1,445 civilians were killed - a rise
of 39% on the same period last year. 

Meanwhile, members of parliament are holding a one-day walk-out in protest
the increase in civilian casualties. 

A senior member of the senate, Abdul Khaliq Hosseini Pashaei, said the
senators would hold further protests if measures were not taken by the
Afghan government and foreign forces to reduce the number of civilian
deaths. 

Anger 

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva - where the UN report was released - says
that the issue of civilian casualties at the hands of foreign forces has
caused widespread anger across the country. 

The figures were collected by the human rights team of the UN Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan. 

What is especially worrying, says spokesman Rupert Colville, is that every
month things seem to get worse. 

"August was a particularly bad month - 330 civilians killed," he said. 

"That's the highest number of civilian deaths to occur in a single month
since the end of major hostilities and the ousting of the Taleban regime at
the end of 2001." 

Fifty-five percent of civilian deaths so far in 2008 can be attributed to
the Taleban, the UN says. 

That is double the number for which they were held responsible last year. 

Among the most recent, two doctors working for the World Health
Organisation's polio vaccination campaign were killed with their driver by
a suicide bomber on Sunday. 

The WHO has now put its vaccination campaign in Kandahar province on hold -
1.2 million children may go unvaccinated. 

Meanwhile, civilian casualties caused by pro-government forces are rising
too - 577 so far this year, compared with 477 over the same period last
year. 

Over two-thirds were caused by air strikes and the UN is calling for an
independent assessment of damage, so that survivors and relatives can be
compensated.
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