KABUL - The NATO-led international force in Afghanistan has denied that the security situation is deteriorating, after the United Nations reported a rise in incidents.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) late Thursday said that 'enemy-initiated attacks are 2 per cent lower' in the first eight months of the year than in the same period in 2010.

On Wednesday, the UN said Afghanistan was witnessing 'disconcerting levels of insecurity' with average monthly 'security incidents' up by 39 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of the year.

At a press conference, ISAF spokesman Carsten Jacobson explained 'the UN and ISAF security data differs in category, collection coverage and magnitude.'

In the three months to August, enemy-initiated attacks were 17 per cent down year-on-year, he said.

A quarter of the events that the UN considers security incidents are not included in ISAF's definition, in particular the activities of pro-government forces, both Afghan and international.
'We do track the majority of these events but do not combine them into the security incidents category,' Jacobsen said of casualties caused by NATO or Afghan troops.

The Wednesday UN report criticized the international forces for causing civilian casualties by night raids and air strikes, which remain the leading cause of local deaths by pro-government forces.

ISAF said the number of civilians killed by airstrikes was 18 per cent higher in the January-August period than in 2010.

The different casualty tallies have become a source of increasing tension between the international forces, the government of President Hamid Karzai, and international institutions and rights groups. (DPA)