KABUL, Afghanistan — The number of civilians killed in fighting between insurgents and security forces in Afghanistan has soared by two-thirds in the first half of this year to almost 700 people, a senior U.N. official said Sunday.
John Holmes, the world body’s humanitarian-affairs chief, said stepped-up militant attacks were making it increasingly difficult to deliver emergency aid to poor Afghans hit by the global food crisis.
Holmes said U.N. figures show that 698 civilians have died as a result of the fighting in the first half of this year. That compares with 430 in the first six months of 2007, a rise of 62 percent. Militants caused 422 of the recorded civilian casualties, while government or foreign troops killed 255 people, according to the U.N. numbers. The cause of 21 other deaths was unclear.
