SIGAR reports spike in Taliban attacks in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): A US federal watchdog on Monday reported a spike in Taliban attacks in Kabul, where targeted killings have seen a sharp rise in recent months.

Government officials, civil-society activists, tribal elders and journalists have increasing come under assaults in the nation’s capital.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said Taliban attacks across Afghanistan during the last quarter of 2020 were slightly lower than in the previous quarter.

However, they surpassed those of the same period in 2019, according to numbers provided by US forces in Afghanistan.

Quoting the latest report from SIGAR, the Associated Press reported: “Enemy attacks in Kabul were higher than during the previous quarter. They were much higher than in the same quarter last year.”

A spate of Taliban attacks in December, including strikes in Baghlan and Uruzgan provinces over a two-day period, left 19 security personnel dead.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, the watchdog said 2,586 civilian casualties were reported — 810 killed and 1,776 wounded.

The proportion of casualties resulting from improvised explosive devices rose by nearly 17 percent in this quarter, according to the report, which also noted a rise in sticky bomb attacks.

Casualties across the country fell by 14 percent in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter, when an exceptionally high number of casualties occurred in the winter months.

PAN Monitor/mud

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