WORLD
UN Reports Record Levels of Violence, Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan
Baku, July 14 (AZERTAC). Despite headline-grabbing claims by soon-to-be CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus last week that insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have decreased, the United Nations said on Thursday that the war there has never been more violent, with a 30 percent increase in security incidents in the first half of 2011 compared to the first half of 2010.
The U.N. also said that more civilians are dying than at any point since the war in Afghanistan began -- up 15 percent over already record-breaking levels last year.
The vast majority of civilian deaths and injuries are caused by insurgents, and increasingly, NATO forces are causing a lower percentage, continuing a trend that began under Gen. Stanley McChrystal`s watch. McChrystal was the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan before Gen. Petraeus.
But the data is still sobering for the U.S., which is desperate for Afghans to feel safer and, therefore, perceive the tide of the war is turning.
"The mounting toll of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2011 represents a deepening entrenchment of violence in the everyday lives of Afghans," the U.N.`s report says. "With responsibility for security transitioning from international military forces to Afghan forces in several parts of the country in July, violence rose as Anti-Government Elements sought to demonstrate that Afghan security forces could not manage security on their own."
The increase in violence, according to the U.N., is mainly a result of record levels of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and more complex and effective suicide attacks.