Insurgent-caused civilian casualties up 330pc in southeast

KABUL said on Friday.

“During February and March 2010, insurgents killed or injured 82 civilians. Through the same period this year, insurgents have killed or injured 353 civilians,” the Regional Command–East, a NATO-led task force, said in a statement.

It said the period represented the beginning of a Spring thaw and the start of a fighting season. “The enemies of Afghanistan are targeting Afghan civilians,” the statement quoted, Col. Shah, the 203rd ANA Corps Religious Cultural Advisor, as saying.

“All who were killed in these attacks were only innocent civilian people, innocent men, women and children,” he said.  “This kind of act is not in Islam at all, it is absolutely not allowed in Islam and whoever carries and executes these kind of acts are enemies of Islam.”

On March 27 this year, insurgents killed 23 innocent civilians and wounded 60 others when they attacked a former religious school used to house local contractors in Bermal district of southeastern Paktika province, the statement.  “The enemies of Afghanistan drove explosive-filled vehicles into the building, where they were detonated,” it said.

A day earlier, on March 6, a passenger bus struck an improvised explosive device in Terwo district of the Paktika, killing 17 local citizens. Seven others were injured in that attack, the statement. Afghan Uniformed Police responded and the wounded were treated at a coalition hospital.

On Feb. 19, an insurgent-led attack at a bank in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, left 21 innocent Afghan citizens killed and 70 others wounded, the statement said. The attackers carried used small arms fire and suicide vests..

During the same period, coalition forces were responsible for accidental deaths of 18 Afghan civilians, with injuries to 46 others, which represents 10 percent, it said.

The Regional Command–East is a NATO-led task force of 30,000 military and civilian personnel from 49 partner nations who assist and support Afghan National Security Forces and the Afghan government in providing security and freedom of movement for Afghans, building infrastructure and fostering economic development, the statement said.

pr/ma

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