Friday, May 1, 2020

US-Backed Forces Killed Twice as Many Children as Taliban and ISIS Did During 1st Quarter of 2020

By Andrea Germanos - May 01, 2020 at 12:18PM

undefined

New data released Monday from the United Nations finds that US-backed forces in Afghanistan were responsible for killing more than twice as many children as did extremists during the first three months of 2020.

The figures come from the latest quarterly report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

From January 1 - March 31, said UNAMA, there were 1,293 civilian casualties in Afghanistan, including 533 killed and 760 injured. The tally reflects a 29 percent decrease compared to the same three-month period last year but still underscores that "the conflict in Afghanistan continues to be one of the deadliest in the world for civilians, at a time when the potential impact of COVID-19 poses a threat to all individuals in Afghanistan," said UNAMA.

The report puts the blame for the majority of the casualties—55 percent—on "anti-government elements," including the Taliban and ISIS. Those groups caused 710 civilian casualties, including 282 killed and 428 injured.

But so called "pro-government forces," which are comprised of Afghan national security forces and international military forces, were responsible 32 percent of all civilian casualties during the first quarter, causing 412 civilian casualties including 198 killed and 214 injured.

"Of concern," said the report, "pro-government forces were responsible for more child casualties than anti-government elements during the first three months of the year and over twice as many child deaths, mainly due to airstrikes and indirect fire during ground engagements."

Afghan national security forces are to blame for 21 percent and international military forces for 8 percent of overall civilian casualties, added the report.
The figures come roughly one month after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for a global ceasefire in the face of the coronavirus pandemic—a call which has faced pushback from the US and Russia.

"The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war," Guterres said in March.

Deborah Lyons, the secretary-general's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, pleaded for Guterres' words to not fall on deaf ears.

"I call on all parties to seize the opportunity offered by the Secretary-General's call for a global ceasefire to focus collective efforts on fighting a common enemy, the COVID-19 pandemic," she said in a statement Monday.

"To safeguard the lives of countless civilians in Afghanistan and to give the nation hope of a better future," continued Lyons, "it is imperative that violence is stopped with the establishment of a ceasefire and for peace negotiations to commence."

Reprinted with permission from Common Dreams.

from Ron Paul Institute Featured Articles

via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment

Merchandise

Ron Paul America Cloud

Site Credits

Ron Paul America

is voluntarily affiliated with

Liberty Operations Group

______________________________

Site created, maintained and hosted by

Liberty Web Services

Tags

#TurnOnTheTruth 2008 2012 4th amendment 911 ACTION Afghanistan war Agency Aggression Principle al-Qaeda Alan Colmes Alert America America's Fault Americans antigun AR 15 assault weapon Audit Authoritarian bailouts Believe Big Brother big government bill of rights Blame blowback bubbles Bush Campaign for Liberty Career Politician Eric Cantor Central Bank Charity China churches collapse Collectivism Commission committee Compassion Congress Conservative constitution Crash dangerous person Democrat Democrats Donald Trump Donald Trump. Planned Parenthood drones economic Economy Edward Snowden End the Fed European Union Federal Reserve Floyd Bayne floyd bayne for congress force foreign interventionism free market free markets GOP Nominee GOP Presidential Debates Government Great Depression gun control House of Representatives housing bubble HR 1745 I like Ron Paul except on foreign policy If ye love wealth better than liberty IFTTT Individual Individualism Institute Irag Iran Iraq war ISIL ISIS Judge Andrew Napalitano libertarian Liberty Liberty Letters Liberty Report Lost mass Media meltdown metadata Micheal Moore Middle East Mitt Romney nap National Neocons New Ron Paul Ad New York Times Newsletters Newt Gingrich No Non non-interventionism NSA NSA Snooping Obama Overreach overthrow Patriot Act peace Peace and Prosperity politicians Pope Francis President Presidential Presidential Race programs prosperity Race Racist Racist Newsletters Rand Paul Read the Bills Act recessions redistribution of wealth refugee crisis Repeal Obamacare Report Republican Republican Nomination Republican Nominee Republicans Revolution Rick Santorum Rick Santorum Exposed Ron Ron Paul Ron Paul Institute Ron Paul Institute Featured Articles Ron Paul Institute for Peace And Prosperity Ron Paul Institute Peace and Prosperity Articles Ron Paul Next Chapter Media Channel Ron Paul Racist Newsletters ron paul's foreign policy Ronald Reagan ronpaulchannel.com ronpaulinstitute.org Rosa DeLauro russia Samuel Adams Saudi Arabia Second Amendment Security Senate Senator September 11th attacks Show Soviet Spying stimulate Stock Market surveillance Syria tech bubble terrorist The the Fed the poor US US foreign policy Us troops USA Freedom Act Virginia Virginia Republican Primary voluntarism. Liberty Voluntary Warner Warning warrantless wiretaps YouTube