Afghan civilian casualties up 10pc: UN

KABUL (AFP) - Civilian deaths in Afghanistan rose more than 10 per cent in the first 10 months of 2009, UN figures showed Tuesday, amid anger over the alleged killing of children in a Western military operation.
Figures released to AFP by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) put civilian deaths in the Afghan war at 2,038 for the first 10 months of 2009, up from 1,838 for the same period of 2008 - an increase of 10.8 per cent.
The UN calculations show the vast majority, or 1,404 civilians, were killed by insurgents fighting for the overthrow of Karzais government and to eject Western troops.
UNAMA said 468 deaths were caused by pro-government forces, including Nato and US-led forces, and 166 by other actors.
Civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces fuel distrust between the Afghan population, the government and US and NATO troops, even though most of the deaths are caused by insurgent tactics such as homemade bombs.
The war blighting Afghanistan is now into a ninth year and has escalated through 2009 as more international troops have been injected into the theatre, leading to more battles with Taliban-led militants.
Meanwhile, time is running out in the fight to eradicate the Taliban from Afghanistan as the extremists evolve, recruit and spread their influence across the country, according to Western military intelligence. The insurgency is organised, increasingly effective and growing more cohesive, said a senior intelligence officer with Natos International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
The insurgent strength is enabled by the weakness of the Afghan government, the officer told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The Taliban is funding its operations, which he estimated to cost between $100m to 2$00m a year, through Al-Qaeda, drugs and taxing the people.
The United States and its allies took our eye off the ball for a number of years, allowing the movement to grow and strengthen, the officer said.
Now, where the (Afghan) government is weak, the enemy is strong, able to exploit the corruption and unpopularity of President Hamid Karzais administration.
Foreign casualties have reached record levels, with the number of Americans dying in Afghanistan in 2009 reaching double the 2008 toll. This years total foreign deaths was 506, of whom 310 were American, according to an AFP tally based on figures from independent icasualties.org.
The intelligence officer said the effectiveness of improvised explosive devices or IEDs - which he called the surface-to-air missiles of this war - was evidence of the Talibans ability to evolve tactics to meet improved defences of international troops.
Eighty to ninety per cent of casualties are caused by IEDs, made with ammonium nitrate fertiliser which is rarely used in agriculture in Afghanistan.
IED weights have risen from 25 pounds to up to 2,000 pounds, he said, capable of destroying heavily-armoured military vehicles.
They have adapted, he said. They have chosen the IED as the way they are going to fight us. They are still doing direct fire and suicide attacks but the IED is the weapon of choice for the Taliban.
IED events reached 7,228 this year, with 6,037 military casualties, Isaf statistics show. This compared with 81 attacks in 2003, then 1,922 in 2006, 2,718 in 2007 and 4,169 in 2008.
The enemys capacity to boost their capability is significantly higher, he said. We should be taking lessons from their logistics chief.
The Afghan Taliban had 25,000 to 30,000 fighters, he said, adding that up to 500,000 people could be open to exploitation by the militia because of unemployment, poverty and lawlessness.