A/HRC/16/67 2010. The number of civilians assassinated and executed by AGEs rose dramatically and AGEs used a greater number of larger and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in more parts of the country. The devastating human impact of these tactics underscored that nine years into the conflict, measures to effectively protect civilians and minimize the impact of the conflict on Afghans’ basic human rights are more urgent than ever. 8. Between 1 January and 30 November 2010, OHCHR/UNAMA documented a preliminary figure of 6,717 conflict-related civilian casualties, including 2,584 deaths and 4,133 injuries. Over this period, AGEs were linked to the deaths and injuries of 5,162 civilians (or 77 per cent of the total number of civilian casualties for this period), an increase of 25 per cent from the same period in 2009. Suicide and IED attacks caused the most civilian casualties attributed to AGEs, including 1,075 deaths (55 per cent of civilian deaths attributed to AGEs) and 2,291 injuries (71 per cent of civilian injuries attributed to AGEs). In the same period, OHCHR/UNAMA recorded 774 civilian casualties (or 11 per cent of the total number of civilian deaths and injuries) linked to PGFs, down 20 per cent from the same period in 2009. Aerial attacks caused the largest number of civilian casualties attributed to PGFs, including 165 deaths (41 per cent of civilian deaths attributed to PGFs) and 121 injuries (32 per cent of civilian injuries attributed to PGFs). 9. As civilian casualties rose in 2010, women and children made up a greater proportion of those killed and injured than in 2009. Women and children continued to experience an extreme lack of protection in conflict-affected areas along with widespread violations of their basic human rights. Between 1 January and 30 November 2010, IEDs and suicide attacks by AGEs caused the most women and children casualties - 33 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively. During this period, women casualties increased by 9 per cent and child casualties leapt by 56 per cent from 2009. A. Anti-Government elements 10. The 2,584 total civilian deaths in the first 11 months of 2010 represented a 15 per cent increase over the number documented in the same period in 2009. In total, 1,955 (76 per cent of total civilian deaths) were attributed to AGEs, up 28 per cent from the first 11 months in 2009. IEDs remained the deadliest tactic used by AGEs in the first 11 months of 2010 and caused 33 per cent of all civilian deaths. OHCHR/UNAMA recorded 232 civilians killed by suicide attacks and a further 442 killed by assassinations and executions, representing 10 per cent and 17 per cent of total civilian deaths, respectively. Of the deaths attributed to AGEs, some 39 per cent of women and 45 per cent of children died from IED explosions and suicide attacks – a 15 per cent increase in female deaths and 72 per cent increase in child deaths by those means over the number documented from 2009. OHCHR/UNAMA also recorded 247 incidents of abductions. 11. Compared with the same period in 2009, the number of civilians assassinated and executed by AGEs surged by more than 106 per cent in 2010. More than half of the civilian assassinations and executions occurred in southern Afghanistan, where more than 211 such incidents were noted as the Taliban expanded and strengthened its campaign of intimidation against a wider and larger group of civilians who worked for, or were perceived by the Taliban to be supportive of the Government of Afghanistan and international military forces. This campaign included assassinations, executions, abductions, night letters and threats. In one week alone in August, in Kandahar province, AGEs allegedly assassinated a former prosecutor, a sitting judge, a shura member, an off-duty Afghan National Police officer, a woman working for an international non-governmental organization (NGO) and an engineer working for an international company. Civilians targeted included teachers, nurses, doctors, tribal elders, community leaders, provincial and district officials, other 5