KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan civilian deaths dropped 22 percent in the first six months of 2012 compared with a year earlier, but the number of civilians killed in targeted assassinations surged, the United Nations says in a report released Wednesday.
The overall reduction came largely from a decrease in the number of Afghans killed by terrorists’ homemade bombs and suicide attacks, the report says. The number of civilians who died in NATO attacks including airstrikes also fell.
The report marks the first time the U.N. data shows such a sustained reduction in civilian deaths since the United Nations started counting in 2007.
However, U.N. officials cautioned that fighting started to pick up in May and that civilian casualties already are spiking again.
“This report does not suggest that Afghans are necessarily safer or better protected in their communities, nor does it suggest any real or concerted attempt by anti-government elements to minimize civilian casualties,” Nicholas Haysom, the deputy U.N. chief in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul.
In all, 1,145 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, according to the report. That is down from 1,462 in the first half of 2011. Injuries to civilians caught up in the crossfire also dropped.
James Rodehaver, the head of human rights for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, called the six-month reduction in civilian casualties “a very hollow trend.” He explained that the gap between last year and this year already had started to close in May and June as warm weather brought the start of the traditional fighting season.
He said preliminary figures for July, which was not covered by the report, show a 5 percent increase in civilian casualties — including injuries — over 2011.
The U.N. previously reported that civilian deaths had dropped 36 percent in the first four months of 2012 compared with 2011. The 22 percent drop reported Wednesday shows that the positive winter trend already has been eroded by the spring and summer violence.
The rise in assassinations has been particularly sharp, the report says. The Taliban regularly target anyone from government officials to local elders who agree to work with the government or the international military.
Civilian deaths from targeted killings jumped 34 percent, to 255 in this year’s period from 190 in 2011, the report says.
The U.N. stressed that bombings and indiscriminate attacks continue targeting places frequented by women and children.
Homemade bombs killed 327 civilians in January through June, down from 444 in the first six months of 2011. Insurgents also killed fewer civilians in suicide bombings that in the year before.
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