Civilian casualties in the War in Afghanistan

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 U.N. report said on July 26.

America's longest war, the two-decade-long conflict in Afghanistan that started in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, killed tens of thousands of people, dogged four U.S. presidents and ultimately proved unwinnable despite its staggering cost in blood and treasure.

A deadline for Afghans to register to vote in the Oct. 20 legislative elections has been extended, officials said on May 11, as figures show hundreds of civilians have already been killed or wounded in poll-related violence.

More than 3,400 Afghan civilians were killed in violence last year, the United Nations said on Feb. 15, with militant bombings the main cause while air strikes by U.S. and government forces inflicted a rising toll.

US Forces said Nov. 7 they had found no evidence of civilian casualties caused by an airstrike in Afghanistan during a joint operation last week, contradicting claims by officials and residents.

Several civilians have been killed in an U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said Friday, the latest setback in efforts to bring peace to the war-torn country.

Saaz Wali Shinwari, the district governor of Haska Mina in Nangarhar province, said the raid was carried out by U.S. troops although there was no official confirmation from NATO.

The people of war-torn Afghanistan continue to bear the brunt of the grinding conflict with civilian deaths at their worst since records began, the United Nations said on July 17.

Deaths in the capital Kabul accounted for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report, which covers the first half of the year.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2016 were the highest recorded by the United Nations, the world body said on Feb. 6, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants - one third of them children - killed or wounded.

Child casualties have soared in Afghanistan this year as the Taliban stepped up attacks in urban areas, the United Nations said on April 17, branding the figures "appalling."

Between January and March, 161 children were killed and 449 others injured - a 29 percent increase from a year earlier - the U.N.'s mission in Afghanistan said in a report.  

Civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan rose to record levels for the seventh year in row in 2015, as violence spread across the country in the wake of the withdrawal of most international troops, the United Nations reported on Feb. 14.