Number of Women, Children Killed in Afghanistan Sharply Rises in 2015 – UN

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The number of women who became causalities of the conflict in Afghanistan increased by 23 percent in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year, while the number of child casualties saw a 13-percent rise, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its Midyear Report, published on Wednesday.

"This year, UNAMA recorded the highest number of children and women casualties compared to the same period in previous years," UNAMA Director of Human Rights Danielle Bell said, commenting on the report.

The overall death toll in the first six months of 2015 reached 1,592 people, while 3,329 were injured, the report revealed. The number of those killed showed a one-percent increase compared to the same period in 2014.

Approximately 90-percent of the deceased died as a result of ground clashes, improvised bombs and suicide attacks, the UNAMA said.

Anti-government groups were responsible for 70 percent of the casualties, 16 percent were a result of the actions of government forces, while 10 percent were not attributed to any party, according to the report.

Afghanistan has long been fighting the Taliban movement as well as other insurgent groups that control large swathes of the country.

UNAMA was established in 2002 at the request of the Afghan government to pave the way toward peace in the country.