UN: Taliban attacks in Afghanistan killed 1,659 civilians in recent months

More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since the United Nations began systematically keeping count in 2009, a UN report said Monday, Report informs, citing RIA Novosti.

The UN mission in Afghanistan reported in its Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict midyear update 2021 that there were 1,659 civilians killed and 3,254 wounded. It said that’s a 47% increase compared with the same period last year.

According to the report, women and children made up close to half of all civilian casualties in the first half of 2021 at 46%. Thirty-two percent were children, with 468 killed and 1,214 wounded. Fourteen percent of civilian casualties were women, with 219 dead and 508 wounded, the report said.

The US-NATO withdrawal is more than 95% complete and is due to be finished by Aug. 31.