KABUL - The Taliban and other insurgent groups were responsible for 80 per cent of the civilian deaths in the war in Afghanistan last year, according to a United Nations report released yesterday.
The report said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented 3021 civilian deaths in the conflict in 2011 - up 8 per cent from 2010, which saw 2790 deaths, and an increase of 25 per cent from 2009, when 2412 civilians were killed.
The UN said ``anti-government elements'' - shorthand for the Taliban and other insurgent groups - were responsible for 2332, or 77 per cent, of conflict-related deaths in 2011, up 14 per cent from 2010.
The report said 410 civilian deaths, or 14 per cent of the 2011 total, were caused by operations by ``pro-government forces,'' or Afghan, US and international security forces - a drop of 4 per cent from 2010. A further 279 deaths, or 9 per cent of civilian fatalities, could not be blamed on any side.
The UN report said insurgents ``used improvised explosive devices more frequently and more widely across the country''.
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