In 3 months, 583 civilians suffer casualties in Helmand

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): At least 583 civilians, including 213 children and 73 women, suffered casualties during the past three months in southern Helmand province as a result of the conflict, an official said on Wednesday.

Abdul MuqimAlizai, acting head of the provincial committee of the Independent Human Rights Commission, told Pajhwok in an interview that 59 civilians were killed and 524 others injured in Helmand province.

He said the dead included 13 children, six women and 40 men and the injured included 200 children, 33 women and 291 men.

“The intensity of the conflict in Helmand has been very high in the last three months. We collected these figures only from clinics and hospitals in LashkarGah and Nahr-e-Saraj districts”, he added.

He said they had also received information about civilian casualties in Sangin, Marja and Garamsir districts but the victims were transferred to hospitals in Herat and Kandahar and therefore they had no exact information.

He said most of the civilian casualties in Helmand during the past three months resulted from roadside bombings. He urged the warring parties in Afghanistan to respect the laws of war in order to minimize civilian casualties.

But Helmand Governor Abdul NabiElham disputed the civilian casualties’ figures, saying some civilians had been killed and wounded but not that much in the past three months. However, he did not give any figures.

The governor said most of civilian casualties in the province were caused by landmines planted by the Taliban on highways.

Bk/ma

Visits: 6