[Hurriyet Daily News] The number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan jumped 22 percent in 2014, the UN said Wednesday, as NATO troops withdrew from combat leaving government forces to battle a raging Taliban insurgency.The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan attributed the rise to an intensification in ground fighting, resulting in a total of 10,548 civilian casualties last year, compared with the 2013 figure of 8,637.
The number of civilian deaths rose 25 percent to 3,699 while the number of injured was up 21 percent to 6,849. The total casualty figure is the highest recorded in a single year since the UN began compiling its reports in 2009.