A/HRC/43/74 20. Progress was also made in the implementation of the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (Protocol V) to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, which came into effect on 9 February 2018. As at December 2019, the Government was discussing a draft mechanism that would define specific responsibilities for its implementation. 21. UNAMA/OHCHR continued to engage regularly in civil-military dialogue to improve the protection of civilians with provincial, regional and high-level government and military representatives, and the international protection community. Investigations were consequently opened, and the Government and international military forces issued orders and policies aimed at better protecting civilians from the tactics causing the most harm to civilians. IV. Children and armed conflict 22. The United Nations country task force on monitoring and reporting on children and armed conflict, co-chaired by UNAMA/OHCHR and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), verified 1,054 incidents of killing and maiming of children, a 12 per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2018. During the period under review, 2,923 child casualties (796 deaths and 2,127 injured) were documented, accounting for 30 per cent of all civilian casualties, similar to the same period in 2018. The main causes of child casualties were ground engagements, suicide and non-suicide improvised explosive devices, and explosive remnants of war. 23. The task force recorded child casualties in all regions of Afghanistan, with the highest numbers recorded in the southern (595), eastern (478) and northern (443) regions. 24. Anti-government elements were responsible for 49 per cent of child casualties, while 33 per cent were attributed to pro-government forces. Some 12 per cent of child casualties were jointly attributed to anti-government elements and pro-government forces, 1 per cent to cross-border shelling by Pakistani military forces, while 5 per cent could not be attributed to any party to the conflict. 25. During the period under review, the task force verified 66 incidents affecting education and education-related personnel, including attacks on schools and educationrelated personnel, threats, intimidation, harassment and abduction of education-related personnel. Of the 66 incidents, 21 were aimed at education facilities designated as polling centres for the presidential election. The task force attributed 54 incidents to anti-government elements, 9 to pro-government forces, 2 to both anti-government elements and progovernment forces and one to Pakistani military forces. For instance, on 1 July, the Taliban conducted a complex attack on a Ministry of Defence facility in Kabul city. After the detonation of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, members of the Taliban armed with AK-47s entered a nearby building, the ground floor of which belonged to a private school, and where around 300 students were in class. Seven civilians were killed in this attack, including a boy, while 144 civilians were injured, including 21 boys and 7 girls. Six schools in the area were damaged in the attack. 26. The task force verified 70 incidents affecting health-care facilities and health-related personnel. Of these, 52 were attributed to anti-government elements, 17 to pro-government forces and one to both pro-government forces and anti-government elements. 27. Moreover, the task force verified 27 cases of recruitment and use of children involving 63 boys (56 boys recruited by the Taliban, 3 by Afghan National Police, 2 by the Afghan Local Police, one by pro-government militia, and one by both the Afghan Local Police and pro-government militia). The task force received allegations of the recruitment and use of 21 other boys by parties to the conflict, which were under verification at the time of writing. The task force verified 9 incidents of abduction of 14 boys (7 incidents during which 12 boys were abducted involved the Taliban, the abduction of one boy by the Afghan National Police, and the abduction of another by pro-government militia). 5