Woman, child die as rockets hit house in Kabul

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - A woman and a child were killed as rockets hit their house in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, an official said on Wednesday.

“A total of two rockets hit the Neyaz Beck residential neighborhood in the Fifth Police district. A woman and a child got martyred in the attack”, Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told Anadolu Agency.

He said police have reached the site to investigate the incident.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are on an upward trajectory in the recent months.

According to official estimates, up to 231 civilians died in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan alone in terrorist attacks in the capital Kabul, and Paktia, Khost and Herat province. This includes the devastation caused by May 31 truck bombing in Kabul that killed up to 150 people.

Landmines are another major cause of civilian casualties. In the past two months, 29 civilians died in four incidents when their cars hit roadside landmines.

In February this year, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report that the civilians again bore the brunt of violence in Afghanistan in 2016 that saw a large number of children among the 3,498 dead.

The report documented 11,418 conflict-related civilian casualties, including 3,498 people killed and 7,920 injured in 2016. Of these, 3,512 were children -- 923 dead and 2,589 injured, up by 24 percent from the previous highest-ever recorded figure.