Violence against Afghan civilians surges since peace talks began

US-brokered negotiations began in September but progress has since slowed and violence has risen sharply.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have escalated sharply since peace talks between the government and the Taliban armed group began last year, the United Nations says in a report calling for a ceasefire as negotiators met for the first time after weeks of inaction. Afghan civilian casualties totalled 8,820 in 2020, according to the UN mission to Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) annual report released on Tuesday, a figure 15 percent lower than 2019, but the authors noted with alarm a sharp uptick and historically high civilian casualties in the final three months of the year – since the talks began. The US-brokered peace talks – set out in an agreement between the Taliban and the US signed in February last year – began in September, but progress has since slowed and violence risen as uncertainty hovers over whether international forces will be pulled out by May as originally planned.