Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Things aren't looking too good in Afghanistan, according to the latest report from a special inspector general tasked with charting the progress of that country's reconstruction.
During 2016, Afghanistan had the highest number of civilian casualties -- 11,418 -- since such tolls were first documented by the United Nations in 2009, according to the report, released today by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Additionally, "[s]ecurity incidents throughout 2016 and continuing into the first quarter of 2017 reached their highest level since UN reporting began in 2007."
The conflict has caused 660,639 people to flee their homes just during 2016 alone -- "the highest number of displacements on record and a 40 percent increase over the previous year," the report states.
The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have also continued to suffer "shockingly high" casualty rates, with 807 killed during the first six weeks of this year, according to the report.
"Likewise, civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began reporting them in 2009. Among those killed in Kabul were more than 50 at Afghanistan's largest military hospital on March 8, and two investigators from the Major Crimes Task Force on April 10," the report states.