WASHINGTON: Afghan civilian casualties increased sharply during last winter's fighting season, according to a US Defense Department report Tuesday that also tallied an increased toll on Afghan security forces during some operations.
In its semi-annual report to Congress, the Pentagon found that between December 1 and May 31, the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan counted more than 4,223 civilian casualties -- about one-quarter of which were deaths and three-quarters were injuries.
This represents about a 73 percent increase compared to the same time frame a year ago, the report notes, attributing the bulk of the rise to insurgents using more improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"Preventing civilian casualties remains a major concern of the ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces), the Afghan government and US and coalition forces," the report states.
The document also found a 14-percent increase in the number of ANDSF personnel killed or wounded while on local patrols and during checkpoint operations, but saw a drop in casualties during planned offensive operations.
US officials have previously claimed that casualty rates in the Afghan army and police have been dropping, but it is hard to verify or quantify such claims as Washington has agreed to classify data on the casualty numbers.
The Pentagon said that during the winter, the ANDSF remained in control of all provincial capitals and repelled a Taliban attempt to seize the provincial capital of Farah in May.
"The mild winter allowed for sustained military pressure against insurgent and terrorist forces, and built positive momentum heading into the 2018 fighting season," the report states.
Afghan security forces recently resumed offensive operations against the Taliban following an 18-day ceasefire by the government.
The unilateral truce overlapped with the Taliban's three-day ceasefire for Eid, but the militants refused to prolong it.
The Pentagon report also blasted Russia, which it has previously accused of aiding the Taliban.
"Russia continued to seek ways to undermine US influence in the region by engaging with the Taliban, disseminating false information about US support to (the Islamic State group), disseminating false information about US objectives in Afghanistan and pressuring Central Asian neighbors to deny support to US and NATO stabilization efforts," the report states.
Afghan civilian casualties rose over winter: Pentagon
Afghan civilian casualties rose over winter: Pentagon
- Afghan security forces recently resumed offensive operations against the Taliban following an 18-day ceasefire by the government
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
