Afghan civilian deaths rise for 5th straight year to a record high

[ellisonz]

February 4, 2012 | 1:13 am
--Laura King

REPORTING FROM KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan civilian casualties have reached a grim new milestone, with a record 3,021 noncombatants killed in wartime violence last year, the United Nations said in a report released Saturday.

The toll for 2011 represented an 8% increase from the previous year, and marked the fifth year in a row that the number of noncombatant deaths and injuries has risen. Insurgents were blamed for nearly four-fifths of the deaths.

“For much too long, Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war,” said Jan Kubis, head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. He called on all parties to the conflict to take urgent steps to protect civilians.

The rising civilian toll calls into question Western military assertions that overall violence is declining across Afghanistan. Last year saw a drop in the number of NATO troop fatalities, after military deaths hit a wartime high in 2010.

More: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/02/afghan-civilian-deaths-rise-for-fifth-straight-year-reaching-record-levels.html

[lib2DaBone]

1. ... they hate us for our freedom.....

[Old Grump]

2. Freedom has nothing to do with it and everything to do with hate

Fewer troops to shoot at and troops shoot back. Unarmed civilians cannot shoot back and bad people like helpless compliant victims who cannot defend themselves.