United Nations Confirms May As Deadliest Month For Most Civilian Deaths In Afghanistan Since 2007

The UN’s latest report on Afghanistan reads that May has been the deadliest month for civilians since 2007, when the organization improvised a commission to record civilian casualties around the country.

The UN officials were saddened on the announcement that more than 368 people have died so far in different conflicts over the past month. "More civilians were killed in May than in any other month since 2007 when Unama began documenting civilian casualties," said Georgette Gagnon, Unama's director of human rights. "We are very concerned that civilian suffering will increase even more over the summer fighting season which historically brings the highest numbers of civilian casualties," she said.

"Parties to the conflict must increase their efforts to protect civilians now."

The report also impresses that the anti-government and anti-US sentiments have also risen after the increase in the casualties since the start of 2011. The civilians have started protesting vehemently against the severe bombing by NATO and its allies on their soil. The civilians are of the view that in a single raid carried by the NATO forces, more than 75% people who die are civilians.

“Bomb blasts caused by improvised explosive devices were the leading killer of civilians in May, with 119 killed and 274 wounded in such attacks,” the UN agency said.

However, the reports also confirmed that insurgents and other anti-government forces were responsible for 301 civilian casualties in May. 15 people, including eight children and four women, were killed when a bomb blast hit their vehicle in the southern province of Kandahar.

In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber struck outside a police base, killing two policemen, including a commander, and a civilian, a police official said. 12 people got gravely injured in the attack.

According to the UN, the number of civilian casualties will increase in the near future, as the number of troops fighting in Afghanistan have been increased by the White House and NATO. With more troops entering the Afghan premises, the fighting arena will increase.

The NATO officials also reiterated that they will not be leaving Afghanistan as long as the security situation in the country is completely under control. This, according to experts, confirms the presence of US and NATO forces for a long haul.