KABUL: Targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan doubled last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, as an expanding insurgency strikes at Western efforts to build up the Afghan government and security forces. 

Of 462 assassinations in 2010, half occurred in Taliban strongholds in the south, where the United States says it has made most gains from a troop surge aimed at turning the tide of the almost decade-old war. 

In an annual report on the conflict’s civilian toll, the United Nations said there had been a 15 percent rise in the number of civilians killed to 2,777 in 2010, continuing a steady rise over the past four years. 

Insurgents were responsible for 75 per cent of those deaths. 

Abductions rose 83 per cent, and violence continued to spread from the south to the north, east and west, the report said.

Civilian deaths in the north, in particular, rose 76 per cent. 

But the most “alarming” trend, it said, was a 105 per cent increase in the targeted killing of government officials, aid workers and civilians perceived to be supportive of the Afghan government or Nato-led foreign forces. 

The tactic threatens to undermine further the handover of responsibility for security to the Afghan government, police and army starting this year, as Washington and its Nato allies seek to draw down their combined 150,000-strong force. 

In many parts of Afghanistan, local governors live behind sandbags on US military outposts and government officials rarely travel to the areas they are supposed to run. 

The social and psychological impact of assassinations are “more devastating than a body count would suggest”, the UN report said. 

“An individual deciding to join a district shura (meeting), to campaign for a particular candidate, to take a job with a development organization, or to speak freely about a new Taliban commander in the area, often knows that their decision may have life or death consequences,” it said. 

“This suppression of individuals’ rights also has political, economic and social consequences as it impedes governance and development efforts.” 

Violence Spreading 

Civilian assassinations were up 588 per cent and 248 percent in Helmand and Kandahar provinces respectively, the main strongholds of the Taliban and the focus of a US troop surge. 

The report noted a 26 per cent decline in the number of civilian deaths caused by coalition and Afghan forces. 

Yet the killing of civilians in Nato operations has re-emerged as a major source of friction between Kabul and its Western backers. 

Last week, Nato helicopters gunned down nine Afghan boys collecting firewood, drawing condemnation from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and apologies from President Barack Obama and his top commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus. 

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates repeated the apology on Monday during a visit to assess security progress before Washington starts gradually withdrawing troops in July. 

Casualties among women rose 6 per cent in 2010, and among children by 21 per cent, while “the spread and intensity of the conflict meant that more women and children had even less access to essential services such as healthcare and education”. 

Suicide attacks and homemade bombs claimed most lives. 

Of the 440 deaths attributed to Nato and Afghan forces, 171 were caused by aerial attacks, sharply down on 2009 as a result of tightened rules of engagement. 

The report noted a decline in civilian casualties in “night raids” by foreign forces, a tactic ramped up under Petraeus to the anger of Afghans and Karzai’s government. 

It attributed the drop to stricter regulations, but expressed concern about “consistent implementation” and a “persistent lack of transparency on investigations and accountability”.