Bloody 2016 for Afghan civilians
Violent clashes between Afghan security forces and militants, particularly in populated areas, resulted in a record number of civilian casualties last year.
Nearly 11,500 civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan in 2016 -- one third of them children -- according to the United Nations, the highest number of annual non-combatant casualties since it began collecting figures in 2009.
Here is a recap of some key incidents in major cities with high civilian casualties in 2016, a bloody year for the war-ravaged nation:
An elderly Afghan mother mourns for her son who was killed in a suicide attack in July 2016 ©SHAH MARAI (AFP)
- Kabul, the war-torn capital -
Even for Kabul's estimated population of five million, grimly accustomed to attacks which tear through the city with devastating regularity, 2016 brought carnage on a new scale.
- A truck bomb and ensuing firefight killed at least 64 people on April 19, most of them civilians, and wounded some 350 others a week after the start of the Taliban's "spring offensive".
- On July 23, Islamic State jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 400 others.
The bombings marked the deadliest single attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban were ousted from power in a 2001 US-led invasion, and were a major escalation for IS.
- Taliban militants launched an assault on the Kabul offices of CARE International, part of a wave of bombings in the city on September 5 that left at least 41 people dead and dozens wounded.
- Lashkar Gah on the brink -
The Taliban, once a rural insurgency, continued an aggressive push to capture big cities in 2016, launching attacks on three provincial capitals -- Tarin Kot, Lashkar Gah and Kunduz -- with many civilians caught in the fighting.
In early August, the Taliban launched a major offensive in Helmand province, advancing on Lashkar Gah, which has 200,000 inhabitants.
The Afghan army flushed out the insurgents with the support of American air strikes, and around 100 US troops were deployed in the city, the first major American presence there since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.
- Storming of Tarin Kot -
In September the Taliban stormed into Tarin Kot, capital of southern Uruzgan province, triggering heavy fighting around government buildings as many of its panicked 70,000 residents scrambled to flee.
Within hours Afghan forces bolstered by reinforcements and air support repelled the militants, though fighting continued in the outskirts.
- Return to Kunduz -
After briefly seizing the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in September 2015, the Taliban returned in October 2016, launching a fresh assault that triggered fierce gun battles with government forces, who ultimately drove the insurgents back.
In November, US forces conceded that an air strike had "very likely" killed at least 30 civilians in the Kunduz area, many of them children, triggering impassioned protests in the city.
Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 15-year campaign. Monday's UNAMA report recorded the highest number yet of civilian casualties caused by air strikes -- 590, of whom 250 were killed.
- Islamic State expands -
While the Taliban have been making their aggressive push into cities and are still blamed by UNAMA for the bulk of civilian casualties, fears are also growing about the expanding presence of Islamic State.
After the earlier attack on Hazaras in Kabul, in October militants linked to Islamic State jihadists abducted and killed around 30 civilians, including children, in central Ghor province.
UNAMA's report Monday charted a 10-fold increase in civilian casualties blamed on Islamic State -- 899, including 209 deaths.
©SHAH MARAI (AFP)
A massive suicide blast targeting Shiites killed at least 30 people at a Kabul mosque in November 2016 ©Wakil Kohsar (AFP)
