A/HRC/28/48 significant progress in developing policies and directives aimed at enhancing protection of policewomen in the workplace. Afghan women’s participation in the 2014 Presidential and Provincial Council elections was strong. However, women’s political representation decreased owing to the 2013 amendments to the Electoral Law, which reduced the number of seats reserved for female representatives in the Provincial Council. II. Protection of civilians 7. Conflict-related violence increasingly affected civilians in 2014, with an increase in the number of civilian casualties from the already elevated numbers of 2013. Attacks by anti-Government elements (Taliban and other armed opposition groups) against Afghan National Security Forces increased as insurgents sought to exploit uncertainty surrounding the presidential election and assert control as transition of security responsibilities from international military forces to Afghan forces concluded. Increasing pressure from antiGovernment elements and a high number of casualties experienced by Afghan National Security Forces caused Afghan forces to concentrate on force protection and recovering disputed territory, which limited their primary role in protecting civilians from conflictrelated violence. 8. From January to November 2014, civilian deaths and injuries from conflict-related violence increased by 19 per cent compared with the same period in 2013. 2014 thus became the year with the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries recorded by UNAMA/OHCHR since 2009. Between 1 January and 30 November 2014, UNAMA/OHCHR documented 9,617 civilian casualties (3,188 civilians killed and 6,429 injured). UNAMA attributed 75 per cent of civilian casualties to anti-Government elements, 11 per cent to pro-Government forces, consisting of Afghan National Security Forces and international military forces, and 9 per cent to ground engagements between proGovernment forces and anti-Government elements in which attribution was not possible. Four per cent of civilian casualties were unattributed, resulting mainly from explosive remnants of war, while the remaining one per cent resulted from by cross-border shelling. 9. A new trend in 2014 was an increase in civilian casualties from ground engagements between Afghan National Security Forces and anti-Government elements, particularly in civilian populated areas. These caused the most civilian casualties. In previous years, improvised explosive devices used by anti-Government elements consistently caused the highest number of civilian casualties. The increased focus by the conflicting parties on asserting control on the ground gave rise to larger numbers of armed clashes between antiGovernment elements and pro-Government forces, particularly in the eastern, south-eastern and southern regions. A. Anti-Government Elements 10. Seventy-five per cent of all civilian casualties during 2014 were attributed to antiGovernment elements (which includes a range of armed opposition groups) — the same number recorded in the same period in 2013. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for an increased number of incidents which caused a total of 1,700 civilian casualties, 88 per cent higher than in the same period in 2013, although, as in previous years, for the majority of incidents that UNAMA/OHCHR attributed to anti-Government elements, there has been no claim of responsibility. 11. Between 1 January and 30 November 2014, improvised explosive devices and suicide/complex attacks by anti-Government elements together accounted for 46 per cent of all civilian deaths and injuries. Improvised explosive devices alone accounted for 800 5