One of the most heinous aspects of insecurity, terrorism and war is the civilian casualties. The people, who are not in any way related to the conflict that takes their life, lose their lives in the most tragic manner, though they have every right to live alive. What the poor masses expect from a society or a state that they dwell in is the opportunities to live a happy life, unfortunately, there are many societies and states in the world that have not been able to provide that very basic requirement to their people. Afghanistan is one of the same societies.

The common masses in Afghanistan must bother about the deterioration in security as they are basically the ones who have been suffering and may suffer to a further extent if instability and terrorism prevail in the country. It is really pathetic to see the civilians losing their lives when they have nothing to do with the war. In the economically unstable and war-torn country like Afghanistan, people have not only suffered the hardships of the poor and miserable lives but also the horrors of war.

According to the current estimates by United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by 34 percent in first half of the current year. The Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict by UNAMA on Wednesday, July 09 depicted that from January 1 to June 20, UNAMA documented 4,853 civilian casualties, up 24 per cent over the same period in 2013. Included in the toll were 1,564 civilian deaths and 3,289 injuries, showing 17 and 28 per cent increase respectively. The report also mentions that ground combat is causing more deaths and injuries than improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Women and children were increasingly caught in the crossfire.

Launching the report, UNAMA Director of Human Rights Georgette Gagnon said two-thirds more women were killed and wounded in ground combat this year compared with the same period of 2013.

Child casualties jumped by 34 percent to 1,071, including 295 killed and 776 injured. The total women casualties increased by 24 percent to 440.

The use of remote-controlled IEDs increased by 13 per cent, with 205 incidents causing 150 deaths and 487 injuries, the reports said, voicing grave concern over the use of pressure-plate IEDs. Such devices killed 161 civilians and wounded 147, a 33 per cent increase.

Suicide and complex attacks by insurgents accounted for 156 civilian deaths and injuries to 427. In the first half of 2014, Taliban claimed responsibility for 147 attacks that resulted in 553 civilian casualties.

Georgette Gagnon noted the fight was increasingly happening in communities, public places and near civilian homes. She called casualties among women and children a disturbing upward spiral.

"The nature of the conflict in Afghanistan is changing with an escalation of ground engagements in civilian-populated areas," said the secretary-general’s special representative, Jan Kubis.

In the economically unstable and war-torn country like Afghanistan, people have not only suffered the hardships of the poor and miserable lives but also the horrors of war. They have been killed mercilessly as if their lives do not have any value or meaning and it is important to see that the Taliban are mostly behind the demise of the poor civilians. It should also be added that the poor civilians have also been influenced by insecurity in different other ways. The weaker strata, in particular, have been facing different faces of terror.

Different attacks, bombings, shootings and suicide bombings of the vicious guardians of the so-called holy war have only been able to target the children, women and non-military figures. With the presence of such facts, it is weird to find Taliban calling themselves friendly to Afghan people.

 Taliban, on various occasions, have claimed that they would not target the civilians directly but the reality about attempts mentioned above is totally against what is claimed by them.  

Civilian killings, therefore, clearly depict that Taliban do not care much about the civilian casualties; what they mostly care about is their threat and dominancy over the security arrangements.

 Taliban, recently, have been trying to develop an image of caring and affectionate body that is trying to liberate the people of Afghanistan from the Western forces. But the fact is just on the contrary. They just want power and for that they will never hesitate to sacrifice the poor Afghan people. They will definitely, like cowards, target the weaker strata as they do not have proper security to guard themselves and are easy targets. If Taliban come to power, it is evident that Afghan people will never have peace, contentment and above all their due rights.

With the current rise and swelling wave of terrorism, it should not be neglected that Taliban have been able to grow largely in the recent few years. The transition period, instead of pointing towards progress and improvement, seems to be going the other way. In fact the overall process of transition does not seem to be working well. This period does not have to be only a transfer of security responsibility from international forces to Afghan forces, rather it should be comprehensive enough to include within its folds the overall political and economic stability and better life opportunities for all the Afghan people.

The post transition period in Afghanistan has to be a period that can give poverty stricken Afghan people their basic requirements; provide them better representation and participation in political and social life; make them capable of governing themselves appropriately.