i 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 A group of journalists and first responders are caught in a downtown Kabul suicide attack on 30 April 2018. Nine journalists were killed, including one woman, and six other journalists were injured when a suicide attacker posing as journalist -bearing fake press identification and carrying a camera- detonated his explosive device. The attacker had waited for first-responders and the media to arrive at the scene of an earlier blast, which was caused by a suicide attacker on a motorbike at a National Directorate of Security check post. Daesh/ISKP claimed responsibility for both attacks, which resulted in a total of 63 civilian casualties (21 deaths and 42 injured), including four children. “This is the UN’s tenth annual report documenting the plight of civilians in the Afghan conflict – more than 32,000 civilians killed and around 60,000 injured in a decade. It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy. The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting. That is why there is all the more need now to use all our efforts to bring about peace. I urge all parties to seize every opportunity to do so.” Tadamichi Yamamoto, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Kabul, February 2019 “The conflict in Afghanistan continues to kill far too many civilians and has caused long- lasting suffering, both physical and psychological, to countless others. The fact that the number of children killed this year is the highest on record, is particularly shocking. In addition to the lives lost, the dire security situation is preventing many Afghans from enjoying their economic, social and cultural rights, with thousands of children already handicapped for life because of attacks on schools and medical facilities. I call on all parties to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian and international human rights law to protect the lives of all civilians.” Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, February 2019 Mandate The 2018 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 2018. The UNAMA Human Rights Service prepared this report pursuant to the UNAMA mandate under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2405 (2018) “to monitor the situation of civilians, to coordinate efforts to ensure their protection, […] 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 2405 (2018) 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 law and international human rights law and the Constitution and laws of Afghanistan, including in particular respect for the rights to life and physical integrity. This report is jointly published by UNAMA and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Table of Contents Methodology ......................................................................................................................................................................... i Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Recommendations .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 I. Political and Security Dynamics Affecting Civilian Protection .............................................................................. 8 II. Impact of the Armed Conflict on Civilians ............................................................................................................. 10 a. Women and Armed conflict .............................................................................................................................. 10 b. Children and Armed Conflict ............................................................................................................................ 11 i. Recruitment and use of children by parties to the armed conflict ......................................................... 13 ii. Conflict-related sexual violence against children ....................................................................................... 14 c. Impact of the Armed Conflict on Education ................................................................................................. 15 d. Impact of the Armed Conflict on Health Care .............................................................................................. 16 e. Explosive Remnants of War .............................................................................................................................. 17 III. Anti-Government Elements .................................................................................................................................... 18 a. Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 i. Taliban .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 ii. Daesh/Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) ........................................................................................ 20 b. Tactics and Incident Types Causing Most Harm to Civilians ...................................................................... 21 i. Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide and non-suicide) ....................................................................... 21 ii. Attacks deliberately targeting civilians and civilian objects ...................................................................... 25 iii. Conflict-related abductions of civilians ....................................................................................................... 30 iv. Illegal punishments carried out against civilians ........................................................................................ 31 v. Use of homes and other civilian objects for military purposes ............................................................... 32 IV. Pro-Government Forces ........................................................................................................................................... 33 a. Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 33 i. Afghan national security forces .................................................................................................................... 34 ii. International military forces .......................................................................................................................... 35 iii. Pro-Government armed groups ................................................................................................................... 35 b. Tactics and Incident Types Causing the Most Harm to Civilians ............................................................... 37 i. Aerial operations ............................................................................................................................................. 37 ii. Search operations ............................................................................................................................................ 41 iii. Intentional killings of civilians by Afghan national security forces & the Khost Protection Force . 43 V. Ground Engagements: Civilians Caught in the Cross-Fire .......................................................................... 45 a. Overview .................................................................................................................................................................... 45 b. Civilian Casualties from Indirect Fire Systems during Ground Engagements .............................................. 47 c. Civilian Casualties from Shooting During Ground Engagements .............................................................. 48 d. Cross-Border Shelling ......................................................................................................................................... 48 VI. Civilian Casualty Mitigation Policies and Mechanisms, including Accountability Efforts ...........................