"Afghan civilian casualties have reached a grim new milestone, with a record 3,021 noncombatants killed in wartime violence last year, the United Nations said in a report released Saturday. The toll for 2011 represented an 8% increase from the previous year, and marked the fifth year in a row that the number of noncombatant deaths and injuries has risen. Insurgents were blamed for nearly four-fifths of the deaths.
“For much too long, Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war,” said Jan Kubis, head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. He called on all parties to the conflict to take urgent steps to protect civilians. The rising civilian toll calls into question Western military assertions that overall violence is declining across Afghanistan. Last year saw a drop in the number of NATO troop fatalities, after military deaths hit a wartime high in 2010.""
“For much too long, Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war,” said Jan Kubis, head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. He called on all parties to the conflict to take urgent steps to protect civilians. The rising civilian toll calls into question Western military assertions that overall violence is declining across Afghanistan. Last year saw a drop in the number of NATO troop fatalities, after military deaths hit a wartime high in 2010.""
