A US-based institute warned on Tuesday that there has been a dramatic increase in airstrikes conducted by Afghan government forces from July to September this year, attacks that have led to a sharp rise in civilian casualties.
The Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, a research center at Brown University, said in its report that 70 Afghan civilians have been killed in the third quarter of this year, compared to 86 killed in the first six months of 2020.
The somber statistic comes even as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban are holding negotiations about a peaceful resolution to the country’s 19-year war. The talks have been underway since September in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. The two sides last week finally made a step forward after a long impasse, agreeing on rules and procedures for the negotiations.
In its report, the institute also said that from 2017 through 2019, civilian deaths due to US and allied forces’ airstrikes in Afghanistan dramatically increased. In 2019, airstrikes killed 700 civilians – more civilians than in any other year since the beginning of the war in 2001 and 2002.
The civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting, despite repeated pleas from the United Nations to spare civilian lives.