- Reaction score
- 2,626
- Points
- 1,260
This, from the Canadian Press - highlights mine:
The insurgent war has taken a devastating toll on Afghan civilians this year, but the proportion of deaths caused by the international military coalition declined, latest United Nations figures show.
The numbers suggest efforts by coalition forces to minimize non-combatant casualties - a key Taliban propaganda tool - are paying off.
In the first 10 months of this year, a total of 2,038 Afghan civilians died in the ongoing conflict - almost 11 per cent more than last year, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
About four times as many civilians were killed this year than coalition troops. Twenty-eight Canadian soldiers died in 2009.
It was not immediately clear if Canadian forces were responsible for any of the deaths.
"The impact the conflict is having on the Afghan people is increasing year by year," Aleem Siddique, chief UN spokesman in the war-wracked country, said in an interview from Kabul on Tuesday.
"The numbers speak to the difficult security situation and the increase in violence."
What the grim figures do indicate is that the proportion of civilians killed by insurgent action has risen to about 70 per cent from 55 per cent last year.
At the same time, the proportion of deaths at the hands of the international coalition has fallen by almost half - to about 20 per cent from 40 per cent ....