UN report into increasing civilian casualties, comment on Khost attack

Описание: (14 Jul 2011)
1. Wide of news conference of United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura and UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) Director of Human Rights, Georgette Gagnon
2. Mid of news conference
3. Mid of journalists
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA Director of Human Rights:
"This dramatic growth was mainly due to the use of landmine like pressure plate, improvised explosive devices or IEDs by the anti-government elements. We at UNNAMA documented 1,462 civilian deaths for this period with 80 percent attributed to the anti-government elements, an increase of 28 percent in the civilian deaths from the same period in 2010."
5. Mid of journalists
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Staffan de Mistura, UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan:
"You must have heard about this very sad event which took place yesterday near Khost, we are unable to make comments on it because there is still an investigation, but it is just a reminder on how sometimes this is happening just before our own report, as a reminder that this is a sad event."
7. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE
The number of Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence rose 15 percent in the first half of this year, according to a UN report released on Thursday that offered grim statistics about the human toll of increased fighting.
Speaking in Kabul, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura and UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) Director of Human Rights, Georgette Gagnon discussed the report's finding at a news conference.
Violence has been on the rise as the Taliban and other insurgents try to regain territory lost in the autumn and winter to the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan.
In a midyear report, the UN said 1,462 Afghan civilians lost their lives in the crossfire of the battle between Taliban insurgents and Afghan, US and NATO forces. During the first half of last year, 1,271 Afghan civilians were killed.
May was the deadliest month for Afghan civilians since the United Nations started tracking deaths in 2007, with 368 killed.
The number of civilians injured rose too - by 7 percent. In the first six months of the year, 2,144 civilians were injured compared with 1,997 during the same time last year.
The UN report attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to insurgents and others fighting against the Afghan government - up from 75 percent in the first six months of the year.
International troops and other pro-government forces were to blame for 14 percent of the deaths; 6 percent were not attributed to any party to the conflict.
Suicide attacks and roadside bombs, also called improvised explosive devices or IEDs, together accounted for 49 percent of all civilian deaths, the report said.
Civilian deaths from IEDs rose 17 percent from the same period in 2010, making them the single-largest killer of civilians in the first half of this year.
Gagnon told reporters that the "dramatic growth was mainly due to the use of landmine like pressure plate, improvised explosive devices or IEDs by the anti-government elements".
Many of the most contentious incidents continue to be international military strikes in which residents routinely claim civilians are killed.
In the latest such dispute on Thursday, government officials in eastern Afghanistan accused NATO troops of killing six civilians in an overnight raid, and more than 1,000 people poured into the streets of Khost province in anger.

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