Islam Times - UN envoy censures NATO confab over Afghan civilian deaths toll

Islam Times - The UN envoy in Kabul has criticized the participants of a recent NATO conference in Chicago for failing to raise the issue of civilian killings by US-led soldiers.

Jan Kubis, the UN special representative for Afghanistan, told a news conference on Wednesday that a total of 579 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,219 other were wounded in the first four months of this year.

He said US-led forces accounted for nine percent of casualties while 79 percent of the deaths was caused by anti-government militants.

The UN envoy blasted the military alliance for ignoring what is the most controversial issue of the US-led war, noting that only the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, addressed the issue of civilian casualties in the Chicago conference on May 20 and 21.

"The prevention of civilian casualties... is among the top priorities of UNAMA (UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan)," Kubis pointed out.

The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan has risen steadily each year over the past five years, hitting a record of 3,021 in 2011.

The issue of civilian casualties by US-led forces in Afghanistan is highly sensitive and has been a major source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the United States.

The loss of civilian lives at the hands of US-led foreign forces has dramatically increased anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan, triggering anti-US protests across the volatile country.

Despite showing outrage and dismay over the US-led airstrikes and civilian casualties, the Afghan leader signed a security pact with US President Barack Obama early in May, allowing the American forces to stay one more decade beyond 2014 in the war-ravaged country.

The Afghan parliament, meanwhile, approved the deal on Saturday.