Afghan Taliban call for joint probe into civilian deaths

KABUL: The Taliban waging an insurgency in Afghanistan have signalled a willingness to cooperate with international forces, the UN and human rights groups to investigate civilian deaths in the war.

A committee “should be formed to assess the very issue and conduct investigations into the civilian casualties across the country,” the Taliban said in a statement late Sunday.

The probe should include representatives from the Taliban — calling itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — Nato forces, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and UN human rights organisations, the statement said.

The overwhelming majority of civilian deaths and injuries in the war, nearing the end of its ninth year, have been blamed on the Taliban.

The group relies largely on roadside bombs and suicide attackers.

Civilian casualties rose by 31 per cent in the first six months of 2010, the United Nations said last week, with casualties among children up 55 per cent.

The number of deaths caused by insurgents had risen from half in the same period last year, now accounting for 76 per cent of the 1,271 deaths and 1,997 people wounded, it said in a report.

The Taliban statement said civilian casualties were being used as “propaganda by the western media” which was ignoring deaths caused by the Nato troops.

It said an investigative committee “should be given a free hand to survey the affected areas as well as people in order to collect the precise information and the facts and figures and disseminate its findings worldwide”.

It is not the first time that the insurgents have called for a joint committee to investigate civilian deaths.

While a similar attempt four years ago was rejected, according to non-government organisation workers in Kabul, the latest move was Monday welcomed by an independent Afghan rights watchdog.

Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM) said that in allowing independent investigations into civilian deaths in areas under their control, the insurgents should adhere to certain conditions, including “providing genuine, concrete and certifiable guarantees for the safety and security of human rights investigators (and) reporters”.