- Overall, insurgents were responsible for 72% of this year's civilian deaths [ See Video ]. Among them: 10 medical relief workers killed in cold blood last Friday, Aug.6 [8 of them in photo]
- Human rights groups ask Wikileaks to censor leaked files. Insurgents will target civilians working for democracy and oposed to the Taliban [see report]
New Delhi, Aug.10.– Civilian casualties have surged over the past six months in Afghanistan. According to a new report from the United Nations, it's the insurgents who are mostly responsible, not the coalition. Gen. David Petraeus has directed NATO to take advantage of this with a new public relations offensive in an effort to win the public relations war.
According to the UN, the number of civilians killed in the conflict in the first half of this year numbered 1,271, more than a 20 percent jump over the same period last year. Under stricter rules of engagement, coalition forces reduced civilian killings by 29 percent, while insurgents killed 48 percent more civilians than at the same time last year. Overall, insurgents were responsible for 72 percent of this year's civilian deaths.
NATO's tighter rules of engagement have resulted in grumbling in the ranks, but Petraeus hasn't changed the rules much since he took command in July. Instead, he is pushing his public affairs officers to reap greater benefits from the Taliban's increasingly poor record on killing innocents.
"He has made it very clear from the beginning that it's his intent to hold the Taliban accountable for what they are doing – and to announce what they are doing," says Lt. Col. John Dorrian, the public affairs team chief for international coalition forces.
Beginning in July, Dorrian's team started sending out more press releases detailing Taliban atrocities ...
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