UNAMA, 1 September 2026
This new report by the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan looks at the civilian victims of the two decades of war between 2001 and 2021 and also briefly looks at some countries’ inquiries into the conduct of their own troops in Afghanistan. It says that more than 40,000 civilians were killed and 77,000 wounded in attacks by all parties to the war, the Taliban insurgents, the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, the armed forces of the Afghan Republic and the US-led international coalition forces. (The UN started systematically counting civilian casualties only in 2009.)
Based on almost 200 interviews with victims of armed conflict and their relatives, the report concludes:
Victims of Afghanistan’s decades-long armed conflict continue to suffer profound physical, psychological, social and economic consequences, often without access to justice, adequate assistance or acknowledgement of their harm (…)
When asked about their needs, victims identified financial compensation (81 per cent), access to justice (48 per cent) and measures to prevent the recurrence of violations (47 per cent).
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 1 Sep 2026
