The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on Saturday more than 1,500 civilians were killed and injured in July, the highest monthly figure since May 2017.
More than 50 percent of the casualties were caused by bombings, UNAMA said in a statement.
It documented an increase through July in the number of disproportionate and indiscriminate Taliban attacks in urban areas against Afghan forces, which caused great harm to civilians.
On 1 July, Taliban claimed an attack on an Afghan Army logistics centre in Kabul killing seven civilians and injuring 144 others. Taliban also claimed responsibility for the 18 July attack on a Kandahar police facility resulting in seven civilians killed and 72 others injured. In Ghazni, on 7 July, Taliban attacked a National Directorate of Security (NDS) facility resulting in 174 civilian casualties, the vast majority of whom were injured. More than 80 of the victims were children.
There were also several high-profile attacks in July for which no party claimed responsibility, including the attack on the office of president Ghani’s running mate Amrullah Saleh on 28 July that killed 21 civilians and wounded 50 others. On 30 July, at least 24 civilians were killed and 18 more injured when a bomb hit a bus on the Kandahar-Herat highway.
The report comes as the Taliban have held seven rounds of talks with the United States and the sides are close to an agreement.
“As peace efforts have intensified in recent weeks so too has the conflict on the ground,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
“I call on all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace,” said the envoy, who is also head of UNAMA. “Escalating the conflict will have one primary result: greater loss of civilian life. Now is the time to demonstrate restraint and real respect for the lives of ordinary Afghan civilians.”
