A/HRC/31/46 A. Anti-Government elements 20. In the first 11 months of 2015, UNAMA/OHCHR attributed 64 per cent of all civilian casualties to anti-Government elements, which include a range of armed opposition groups. This represents a 10 per cent decrease in civilian casualties attributed to such groups since 2014. As in previous years, there was no claim of responsibility for the majority of the incidents attributed to anti-Government elements. 21. Between 1 January and 30 November, improvised explosive devices and suicide and complex attacks accounted for 40 per cent of all civilian deaths and injuries by antiGovernment elements. Notwithstanding a 20 per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2014, improvised explosive devices alone accounted for 663 civilian deaths and 1,571 injured (2,234 civilian casualties). In contrast with the overall decline in civilian casualties caused by such devices, UNAMA/OHCHR documented a 35 per cent increase in civilian casualties from pressure-plate improvised explosive devices. On 7 August, two suicide attacks in Kabul city killed 42 civilians and injured 313. This represents the highest number of civilian casualties in a single day since UNAMA/OHCHR began systemically recording such casualties in 2009. In one of the attacks, a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated in the Shah Shahid area, killing 15 civilians and injuring 283. The Taliban issued a statement on its website, denying responsibility for the attack. 22. Throughout 2015, anti-Government elements continued to target and kill civilians, in particular individuals who worked for or were perceived to support the Government or the Afghan National Security Forces and international military forces. Between 1 January and 30 November, UNAMA/OHCHR documented 1,266 civilian casualties (773 civilian deaths and 493 injured) from targeted killings, an increase of 24 per cent compared with the same period in 2014. The Taliban claimed responsibility for 20 per cent of the civilian casualties from targeted killings documented by UNAMA/OHCHR on its website. On 7 September, for example, it issued a claim of responsibility for the killing of a civilian in Kandahar city, alleging that he was a spy for the Government and international military forces. 23. Anti-Government elements increasingly targeted the civilian Government administration. UNAMA/OHCHR documented 174 direct attacks against civilian Government administration personnel or locations, causing 941 casualties (147 deaths and 794 injured). The total number of casualties caused by attacks against civilian Government administration targets increased by 110 per cent compared with the same period in 2014. Suicide attacks caused the highest number of civilian casualties in incidents targeting civilian Government administration personnel or sites, followed by ground engagements and targeted killings. 24. On 12 October, in an explicit attempt to threaten and intimidate journalists, the Taliban’s military commission issued a statement condemning the reporting of its capture of Kunduz city by two Afghan television channels (Tolo TV and 1TV) and stating that those media outlets were to be considered “legitimate military targets” and their staff “enemy personnel”. The statement followed reporting by both channels on allegations of abuse by the Taliban during its occupation of Kunduz. On 16 October, the Taliban published an article on its website, directly calling for attacks on media outlets and journalists “that work for and are funded by the West”. Mirroring the language used in the statement of 12 October, the article stated that such media outlets “must become firm military targets and be eliminated”. 25. On 26 October, a remote-controlled improvised explosive device detonated against a shuttle bus transporting staff of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to the Commission’s office in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province. Two male employees were killed and six were injured, including one woman. The Commission reported that there had 6

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents