generalspeaking

Tallying Lost Lives

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has released its latest figures for civilian deaths incurred throughout 2009. Their conclusion was that the Taliban had killed 1,630 civilians, representing an increase of 40% over the year before. On the other hand, NATO and Afghan troops were responsible for the deaths of 596 civilian Afghans, representing a drop of roughly 30% over 2008. Progress?

New statistics appear to reveal that a hefty majority of Afghans now state a preference for their current government (as corrupt and unpopular as it is) over the potential for a return of the Taliban to rule. The population appears to be more accepting and tolerant of the presence of foreign troops as a recognition of what they are attempting to accomplish. Sometimes.

Most of the civilians killed by the Taliban, it was revealed, died as the result of deliberate executions, suicide bombings and as the result of homemade landmines, the very IEDs that are responsible for the deaths of so many NATO soldiers. While two-thirds of the deaths NATO and Afghan forces are responsible for resulted from warplane and unmanned drone attacks.

On the other end of the mortality scale in Afghanistan the number of NATO soldiers who lost their lives rose dramatically to 530 from 295 in the previous year, resulting from waves of Taliban attacks and the use of more powerful IEDs. Interestingly enough there are odd occurrences where deaths of civilians were due to other causes.

As, for example, the seven people who were struck by Afghan troops firing on them during a violent protest. Rumours (unsubstantiated after thorough investigation and held to be a deliberate provocation by the Taliban) that foreign troops had desecrated a Koran brought out protesters who threw stones at Officers of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security.

One intelligence officer of the NDS has been shot dead by fire that came from among the crowd of raucous protesters in Gamsir district. The crowd was then fired upon in self-defence.

Conflicted? Well, utterly.

Labels: Traditions, Troublespots, World Crises

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, January 17, 2010