How many afghan civilians killed

In an earlier statement, US Central Command said there had been a number of "substantial and powerful subsequent explosions" following the drone strike. It said the explosions suggested there had been "a large amount of explosive material inside, that may have caused additional casualties". The last day of August will mark the end of what some describe as the end of US-led military engagement in Afghanistan, but the Taliban will proclaim it as the end of foreign occupation.

On 1 September, Afghans will wake up and wait to see what this new chapter brings. With every chapter in this year war, Afghans dared to hope that the next chapter would be better than the last.

I can say that of all the chapters I've witnessed over the last three decades, this is the most uncertain chapter yet. The Taliban are promising to rule for all Afghans. They're promising to give Afghans the best education system in the world, to meet all of their needs.

It's a huge challenge to move from an insurgency to governing again. The world will be watching - but watching most closely of all will be Afghans, wondering and hoping against hope that they will have a life they can call their own, in a country they still feel a sense of belonging to.

Afghans tend to say they hold on to hope because it's the last thing they lose. For the thousands who left, some of the best and brightest of this generation, who were educated, trained and prepared during this window of space provided by 20 years of international engagement - they have now not just left their country, they have lost their country.

They have lost their dreams, their hopes, everything they built up in the past 20 years. And it will be so, so painful for such a long time to come. Civilian casualties attributed to anti-Government elements increased by 63 per cent compared with the same period in , while civilian casualties attributed to PGFs increased by 30 per cent.

The leading causes of civilian casualties in the first half of were the extensive use of improvised explosive devices IEDs by opposition forces, ground engagements between parties, targeted killings by non-state groups and airstrikes by the Afghan Air Force. UNAMA said it was deeply concerned about these attacks which deliberately target civilians , including government workers, human rights defenders, media workers, religious elders, and humanitarian workers, and sectarian-motivated attacks.

Children, it stated, were deliberately targeted on at least one occasion. The most shocking incident was the 8 May attack outside the Sayed ul-Shuhuda school in Kabul, which resulted in more than civilian casualties, mostly schoolgirls, including 85 killed, for which no group has claimed responsibility. The UN mission said it was also concerned about the increasing number of reports of killing, ill-treatment, persecution and discrimination in communities affected by the fighting and its aftermath.

Even in the absence of fighting, unexploded ordnance from this war and landmines from previous wars continue to kill, injure, and maim civilians. Fields, roads, and school buildings are contaminated by ordnance, which often harms children as they go about chores like gathering wood. The war has also inflicted invisible wounds. In , the Afghan Ministry of Public Health reported that fully two-thirds of Afghans suffer from mental health problems.

This number exceeds the total displaced by every war since , except World War II. These alternatives would have been far less costly in human lives.

For example, the U.