A/HRC/19/47 20. Between 1 January and 30 December 2011, one per cent of all civilian casualties occurred as a result of night raids. UNAMA documented 63 civilian deaths and 31 civilians wounded during night raid operations.4 21. ISAF has attempted to put in place regulations to restrict the use of force and increase civilian protection by issuing tactical directives to units in the field. These directives, revised in July 2011, together with standard operating procedures regulating night searches, rules of engagement and rules on the escalation of force, have positively contributed to a reduction in civilian casualties by ISAF. However, there are still concerns regarding the full and consistent implementation of these tactical directives and procedures on the ground, the persistent lack of transparency on investigations and accountability for civilian casualties and the lack of a uniform and reliable compensation scheme. 22. OHCHR/UNAMA continues to monitor community-based security initiatives, including the Afghan Local Police (ALP), which continued to grow in strength and has now reached more than 9,000. While ALP has contributed to stability in some areas, the programme remains controversial given the issues of vetting, command and control, and the risk of ethnically or politically biased militias re-emerging. Community leaders and local Afghans have expressed their concern to OHCHR/UNAMA that these initiatives could lead to an increase in criminality and warlordism at the local level. OHCHR/UNAMA has engaged with the relevant authorities, including ISAF, and was assured that strict oversight would be maintained to address these risks. OHCHR/UNAMA has also raised specific allegations of ethnic and political bias, human rights abuses, child recruitment, arbitrary detention and clashes between ALP and regular ANP units. C. Children and armed conflict 23. Recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict emerged as an increasing concern in 2011. OHCHR/UNAMA documented incidents of AGEs recruiting children as young as 12 for suicide attacks, to plant IEDs and to smuggle weapons and uniforms. There were also cases of ANSF recruiting boys, sexual exploitation being a motivating factor. In January 2011, UNAMA and the Government of Afghanistan signed the action plan for the prevention of underage recruitment into ANSF. Similarly, in July 2011, the Minister of the Interior issued a decree reaffirming the commitment of the Government to prevent underage recruitment, sexual exploitation and the killing and maiming of children by members of the Ministry’s security forces. The High Peace Council (HPC) recognized the need to introduce child reintegration into the APRP and to engage in dialogue with nonState actors on the immediate release of children within their ranks. Despite these positive developments, OHCHR/UNAMA underscores the need to promptly implement the action plan for ensuring increased protection for children. 24. Conflict-related violence continues to have an impact on schooling and education, more particularly that of girls. Although the number of girls enrolled in schools has increased in recent years, ongoing insecurity has impacted girls' access to education. AGEs continue to intimidate education personnel and local populations, killing and injuring 4 8 UNAMA notes that obtaining accurate data on night search operations is difficult given the lack of transparency, frequency and wide scope of such operations conducted by ISAF, Afghan National Army (ANA), international and national special forces and the Afghan National Border Police (ANBP), both independently and jointly. ISAF did not share information on night raids, citing it as classified, despite repeated requests from UNAMA. Given both limitations associated with the operating environment and limited access to information, UNAMA may be under-reporting the number of night raids involving civilian casualties.