This report and all Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Reports referenced herein are available on the UNAMA website at: http://unama.unmissions.org/protection-of-civilians-reports Photo on Front Cover: © Omar Sobhani/REUTERS. The photo depicts a victim of the 25 August complex attack at an Imam Zaman Shi’a Mosque located in Qalae Najarah area of Kabul city being carried from the mosque. An attacker detonated a suicide vest at the mosque during Friday prayers, followed by four more attackers targeting worshippers with automatic gunfire and grenades, killing 35 civilians and injuring 65 others. Daesh/ISIL-KP claimed responsibility for the attack. “The chilling statistics in this report provide credible data about the war’s impact, but the figures alone cannot capture the appalling human suffering inflicted on ordinary people, especially women and children.” Tadamichi Yamamoto, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Kabul, February 2018. “Afghan civilians have been killed going about their daily lives – travelling on a bus, praying in a mosque, simply walking past a building that was targeted. The people of Afghanistan, year after year, continue to live in insecurity and fear, while those responsible for ending lives and blighting lives escape punishment. Such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and are likely, in most cases, to constitute war crimes. The perpetrators must be identified and held accountable.” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, February 2018. Mandate The 2017 Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan was prepared by the Human Rights Service of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2017. The UNAMA Human Rights Service prepared this report pursuant to the UNAMA mandate under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2344 (2017) “to monitor the situation of civilians, to coordinate efforts to ensure their protection, to monitor places of detention, to promote accountability, and to assist in the full implementation of the fundamental freedoms and human rights provisions of the Afghan Constitution and international treaties to which Afghanistan is a State party, in particular those regarding the full enjoyment by women of their human rights.” Security Council resolution 2344 (2017) recognizes the importance of on-going monitoring and reporting to the Security Council on the situation of civilians in the armed conflict, particularly on civilian casualties. UNAMA undertakes a range of activities aimed at minimizing the impact of the armed conflict on civilians including: independent and impartial monitoring of incidents involving loss of life or injury to civilians; advocacy to strengthen protection of civilians affected by the armed conflict; and initiatives to promote compliance among all parties to the conflict with international humanitarian and human rights law and the Constitution and laws of Afghanistan. This report received technical input from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Table of Contents Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... i Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................... 6 I. Human Rights Protections in Conflict-Affected Areas ................................................................. 8 A. Women and Armed Conflict ............................................................................................................. 8 B. Children and Armed Conflict .......................................................................................................... 11 C. Impact of Armed Conflict on Healthcare ..................................................................................... 14 D. Explosive Remnants of War ............................................................................................................ 16 E. Cross-Border Shelling ....................................................................................................................... 19 II. Ground Engagements: Civilians Caught in the Cross-Fire ......................................................... 20 III. Civilian Casualties Attributed to Anti-Government Elements ................................................... 26 A. Tactics and Incident Types Causing Most Harm to Civilians .................................................... 28 i. Suicide and Complex Attacks.................................................................................................. 28 ii. Improvised Explosive Devices (non-suicide) ....................................................................... 31 iii. Targeted and Deliberate Killings by Anti-Government Elements .................................... 33 iv. Conflict-Related Abduction of Civilians ............................................................................... 34 v. Parallel Justice Structure Punishments................................................................................... 36 B. Attacks Deliberately Targeting Civilians ........................................................................................ 36 C. Daesh/Islamic State Khorasan Province ....................................................................................... 38 IV. Civilian Casualties Attributed to Pro-Government Forces ......................................................... 43 A. Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 43 B. Aerial Operations ............................................................................................................................... 44 C. Killings of Civilians by Afghan National Security Forces ........................................................... 48 D. Afghan Local Police .......................................................................................................................... 49 E. Pro-Government Armed Groups ................................................................................................... 51 F. Search Operations ............................................................................................................................. 53 G. Escalation of Force ........................................................................................................................... 54 H. Government Policies and Mechanisms for Civilian Casualty Mitigation .................................. 54 ANNEX I: Legal Framework .................................................................................................................. 56 ANNEX II: Glossary ................................................................................................................................ 60 ANNEX III: Provincial Breakdown of Civilian Casualties ................................................................. 66 ANNEX IV: Attacks Claimed by Taliban: Breakdown by Target Type ........................................... 68 ANNEX V: Table of Taliban Allegations of “War Crimes” ............................................................... 69 ANNEX VI: Response by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan .................... 70 ANNEX VII: NATO Resolute Support Official Response .............................................................. 72 ANNEX VIII: Taliban Response .......................................................................................................... 74 Afghanistan Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2017 Methodology UNAMA documents reports of civilian casualties by conducting on-site investigations where possible, consulting a broad range of sources, and accessing various types of information. All sources and information are thoroughly evaluated for their credibility and/or reliability. In undertaking investigation and analysis of each incident, UNAMA exercises due diligence to corroborate and crosscheck information from as wide a range of sources as possible, including accounts of witnesses, victims and other persons directly affected by conflict-related violence; conflict actors (including the Government of Afghanistan, Anti-Government Elements, and international military forces); local village/district and provincial authorities; religious and community leaders; and other interlocutors. UNAMA obtains information through direct site visits, physical examination of items and evidence gathered at the scene of incidents, visits to hospitals and medical facilities, still and video images, reports of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security and other United Nations entities, accounts by secondary sources, and information gathered by non-governmental organizations and other third parties. For verification of each incident allegedly involving a civilian casualty, UNAMA requires at least three different and independent types of sources, i.e. victim, witness, medical practitioner, local authorities, confirmation by party to the conflict, community leader or other sources.