Biggest Killers Of Afghan Women n Children, Death Increase

According to UN report, the past year has seen more Afghan civilians killed and injured by ground fighting than by any other tactic for the first time since 2009.

Civilian deaths and injuries from ground operations, including roadside bombs, soared by 54% making them the "biggest killers of Afghan women and children in 2014", according to the annual document from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The total number of civilians killed or wounded in fighting in Afghanistan was up by 22% to 10,548 in 2014, reaching the highest level in five years as foreign troops made their exit, it said.

The Taliban and other fighting groups were behind 72% of all civilian casualties, while government forces and foreign troops accounted for 14% of the casualties.

The report attributed the rise in casualties to intensified ground fighting, where weapons such as mortars, rockets and grenades are sometimes used indiscriminately in populated areas.

"In communities across Afghanistan, increased ground fighting among parties to the conflict and more (improvised explosive device) attacks exacted a heavy toll on Afghan civilians," UNAMA head Nicholas Haysom said.

Mr Haysom said the Taliban and other fighting groups should "abide by their public commitments to avoid civilian casualties by preventing or ceasing the use of IEDs and mortars in civilian-populated areas, and stop deliberately attacking civilians".

He said: "Parties to the conflict should understand the impact of their actions and take responsibility for them, uphold the values they claim to defend, and make protecting civilians their first priority."

US and NATO troops left volatile areas last year, handing security responsibility over to Afghan forces and officially ending their combat mission at the end of the year.