That’s the American democracy and order: Afghanistan more insecure in 2011

A recent UN report says Afghanistan has become more insecure in 2011 due to the increase in the number of security incidents, civilian casualties, displaced people and complex bomb attacks.

The report said on Wednesday that the number of security incidents recorded during the first eight months of the year was nearly 40 percent higher than the same period in 2010, Reuters reported.

It added that while about two-thirds of the violence was concentrated in the south and southeast, bomb attacks became more common outside that area, with the central region accounting for one in every five incident.

The report also pointed out that the number of complex bomb attacks had increased by half compared to one year earlier, and made up a greater proportion of all bomb attacks.

Civilian casualties, already at record levels in the first half of the year, rose five percent in the June-August period compared to last year, with militants linked to three quarters of the deaths and injuries.

The report to the UN Security Council by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also highlighted the challenges facing Afghanistan’s government and the US-led forces deployed in the war-torn country.

It said transition areas, which included Bamiyan and Panjshir Provinces and southern Lashkar Gah city in Helmand Province “continue to face a resilient insurgency that is attempting to challenge the capacity of the Afghan forces.”

The UN report stated that higher levels of insecurity in Afghanistan were accompanied by a rise in the number of internal refugees, with around 130,000 people abandoning their homes in the first seven months of the year, up nearly two-thirds from the same period last year.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan despite the presence of nearly 150,000 US-led forces in the Asian country.