By Prensa Latina,
Kabul : A UN report showed that 1,445 civilian Afghans were killed during the first eight months of 2008, accounting for a 39-percent increased compared to the same period last year.
According to statistics from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the pro-government forces were responsible for 577 civilian deaths. Another 395 people were killed during US and NATO bombings.
The report, published in Geneva, estimates that 330 civilians were killed in August, including 92 killed in air raids by Afghan and occupation forces in the district of Shindand, in Herat province.
The document adds that this is the largest number of casualties in one month since the end of heavy hostilities and the invasion by the United States and its allies in November 2001.
Among the most notorious cases, the UN report mentions the assassinations of 47 civilians, including 30 children, who were attending a wedding in Nangahar province on July 6, 2008.
It also says that US aviation killed 92 people, including 62 children, in Shindand, Herat, on August 22.