Afghan civilian deaths up in 2013 as war intensifies

Via Jessica Donati KABUL (Reuters) – Conflict took an rising toll on Afghanistan's civilians in 2013 as preventing intensified between the government and insurgents, the United Nations said in a document on Saturday, with complete casualties rising 14 percent. "The new pattern in 2013 of increased civilian casualties from ground engagements, including the alarming increase in ladies and children casualties, mirrored the changing dynamics of the conflict over the yr," the United Nations mentioned. "This 'fog of battle' dynamic reflects the changed nature of the struggle in Afghanistan in 2013 which was increasingly being waged in civilian communities and populated areas," the United Countries mentioned. Bombs accounted for about one-1/3 of the entire civilian toll, which the United International locations put at 2,959 deaths and 5,656 injured.