121 civilians killed, 322 injured in March: CPAG

KABUL group said on Sunday.

The Civilian Protection and Advocacy Group (CPAG) said 60 civilians lost their lives in six suicide bombings, including one car blast last month.

Civilian casualties increased at the beginning of this year, with March deadlier than February. At least 443 people were killed and injured in March but the perpetrators were not identified.

The deadliest attack happened on March 21, when a suicide bomber targeted civilians returning from a new year celebration in the Kart-i-Sakhi area of Kabul.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Daesh (ISIS) but there was no comment on the suicide bombing in Helmand. The government has not yet released any information.

Sixteen civilians were killed and over 50 others injured in a car-bomb attack near a wrestling ground in Helmand. The participants were coming back from the event to offer Maghrib prayers.

Sixty people, mostly women and children, were martyred and wounded in landmine explosions. Another 50 civilian casualties resulted from mortar shells hitting homes.

Night raids conducted by government forces in some areas also caused civilian casualties. Eight civilians were killed and six others injured in nighttime raids by security forces in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province. Some helicopters struck farmers in one the strikes.

In neighbouring Kunar province, one person was killed and two others were injured in artillery shelling by Pakistani forces.

The first month of the ongoing year, in which 600 civilian casualties occurred, was the deadliest. In February,160 civilians were killed and injured.

CPAG once again called upon all parties to the conflict to stop killing civilians. It also asked the government to think about the education of children who had lost family heads to terrorist attacks.

Pr/mud