According to a recent U.N. report, Afghan civilian deaths have reached a record high in August. The U.N. report does not provide a death toll, but according to the Associated Press, a total of 174 civilians were killed.
More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan from January through August. The U.N. recorded 1,145 civilian deaths in the first eight months of last year and a record 2,118 for all of 2008.
These are only deaths counted as “civilian.” NATO insisted, for instance, that most of the 90 Afghans killed when it bombed two fuel tankers in September were not civilians, despite local residents’ claims that the dead were only trying to get much-needed fuel. Thousands of Afghan deaths go unreported by occupation forces.
The report squarely blames insurgents for deaths even as the Pentagon calls for more troops on top of the nearly 130,000 troops and corporate mercenaries deployed in Afghanistan to kill for profit and imperialist domination.
