For Afghan Women and Children, 2013 Brought 'Alarming' Increase in Violence

A new UN report reveals that ongoing armed conflict in Afghanistan took an “unrelenting toll” on civilians in 2013, and that women and children faced an “alarming” increase in deadly violence.

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Announcing the findings presented in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Ján Kubiš, the head of the body, said that if civilians were being deliberately targeted, “it might constitute a war crime and eventually justice will come sooner or later.”

UNAMA documented 8,615 civilian casualties with 2,959 civilian deaths and 5,656 injured last year, which marks a 14 percent increase compared to 2012.

But 2013 was a particularly violent year for Afghan women and children, with the report calling it the worst year for them since 2009.

Women’s causalities rose by 36 percent compared to 2012, and children’s casualties rose by 34 percent.

“It is particularly alarming that the number of Afghan women and children killed and injured in the conflict increased again in 2013,” said the Director of Human Rights for UNAMA, Georgette Gagnon. “It is the awful reality that most women and children were killed and injured in their daily lives – at home, on their way to school, working in the fields or traveling to a social event.”

The report attributed the majority of civilian casualties to IEDs, and said that the majority of civilian deaths are from “anti-government elements,” which includes, but is not limited to the Taliban.

But 2013 also saw an increase—59 percent—in civilian causalities by pro-Government forces compared to 2012.