Officials from the Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and Ministry of Interior (MoI) have expressed concerns about the rise in civilian causalities seen this year, which are said to be a result of a growing trend in insurgent attacks targeting public areas.
Last month, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its mid-year report titled-"Mid-Year Report (2013) on Civilian Casualties Due to Armed Conflict in Afghanistan." The report cited a 23 percent increase in civilian casualties as a result of armed conflict in Afghanistan.
"Last year, insurgent groups' attacks largely targeted security check-posts. Nowadays, their fighting techniques have changed, the groups now target public places," said Najib Danesh, Deputy Spokesman of the MoI.
The MoI reported that over 90 civilians have been killed and 150 injured over the past week alone.
Mossa Mahmoodi, Executive Director of the AIHRC, framed the rise in civilian casualties within the context of what he deemed more broadly deterioration security situation in Afghanistan. He said the national security institutions needed to take swift and effective action or risk seeing the country spiral out of control even before foreign forces leave in 2014.
The assassination of six employees of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) in Herat, killing of the abducted truck drivers in Logar and killing of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock employees in Logar are some of recent incidents involving heavy civilian causalities.
On Saturday, a suicide attack outside of a bank in a crowded area of Kandahar city resulted in the deaths of six civilians and the injuring of 22 more. Six children were also killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Baghlan on the same day.
Although the Taliban has repeatedly said that it is committed to not harming Afghan civilians, but only security forces and foreigners, their words have not been backed up in action.
The UNAMA mid-year report documented 1,319 civilian deaths and 2,533 injuries (3,852 casualties) from January to June 2013, marking a 14 percent increase in deaths, 28 percent increase in injuries and 23 percent increase in total civilian casualties compared to the same period in 2012. In total, 74 percent of civilian deaths and injuries were attributed to anti-government elements, nine percent to pro-government forces and 12 percent to ground engagements between pro-government forces and anti-government elements. The remaining four percent of civilian casualties remained unattributed caused mainly by explosive remnants of war.