Security forces in Afghanistan killed more civilians in the first part of 2019 than the Taliban and other terrorist groups. At the same time, casualty numbers fell compared with the previous year.
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Afghan civilians were killed in greater numbers by NATO and pro-government security forces in the first three months of 2019 than by armed militants, according to UN figures.
It's the first time that fatalities caused by security forces in Afghanistan have exceeded those caused by the Taliban.
What you need to know:
In the first quarter of 2019, pro-government forces were responsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, while insurgents killed 227.
The leading causes of civilian deaths were air strikes (145 fatalities) and ground search operations primarily carried out by US-backed Afghan forces (72).
Women and children comprised half of civilian casualties from aerial operations, with international forces responsible for the vast majority of these.
Overall, 581 civilians were killed and 1,192 wounded, representing a 23 percent decrease in overall casualties on the same quarter last year.
Investigation needed
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which released its report on Wednesday, urged security forces to investigate the casualties.
Endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
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Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
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A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
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Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
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Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
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Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
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Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
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Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
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An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
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"UNAMA urges both the Afghan national security forces and international military forces to conduct investigations into allegations of civilian casualties, to publish the results of their findings, and to provide compensation to victims as appropriate," the report stated.
On the subject of search operations, UNAMA said some of the internationally-supported Afghan forces "appear to act with impunity."
Changing trends
The US military increased the pace of its bombing operations in 2017 after President Donald Trump loosened restrictions to make it easier to bomb Taliban positions.
Although several nations contribute logistical or technical support, with an increasing number of sorties flown by Afghanistan's own fledgling airforce, US aircraft conduct the large majority of airstrikes.
The overall drop in casualties compared with the previous year was attributed to a decrease in suicide bomb attacks, which spiked in early 2018. In January last year, 100 people were killed in a single incident when an explosives-laden ambulance blew up in Kabul.
UNAMA said it did not know if the fall in the number of suicide attacks was attributable to a harsh winter or whether the Taliban were deliberately avoiding civilian deaths as they conduct peace talks with the United States.
