Source: The Nation
The UN mission in Afghanistan has reported that a record number of
civilians were killed in the war-torn, foreign-occupied country in 2011,
marking the fifth consecutive year the death toll has risen.
In its annual report, the mission revealed that 3,021 civilians were killed in 2011, up eight percent from 2010.
The report differed from the assessment of NATO forces that the year was “remarkably successful.”
It is expected that NATO would try to sell it as such, for it is
preparing to withdraw combat troops from the region and hand over
responsibility for security to the Afghan government.
The first question, raised even by the UN report, is who is doing the
killing. The report blames the Taliban for 450 deaths. However, though
the report acknowledges that the International Security Assistance Force
has been responsible for civilian deaths, it does its best to defend
them, stating that it has reduced the number of deaths over the last two
years. Most of the deaths attributed to NATO were due to air attacks –
as widely reported – over even weddings and funerals. These deaths have
provoked even the propped-up regime in Kabul to protest.
The report noted that the geographic distribution of casualties had
shifted, as the conflict lessened in intensity in the south and
increased in the southeast, east and north. This also showed that the
resistance to foreign occupation has spread all over the country.
It is unfortunate that the only sources of information about
casualties, civilian and military alike, are the US and the UN. It is
therefore of significance that Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani
Khar has said that Pakistan has not asked the USA to apologise for the
Salalah incident, in which 26 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives.
Though the UN has been forced to report NATO excesses against Afghan
civilians, Pakistan’s rulers seem to have learnt nothing, and are
working to restore NATO supply lines through Pakistan.
