On September 19th 2019, a Taliban suicide car bomb detonated near a hospital in Qalat, in the Afghanistan’s Zabul province. The attack left 20 dead and 95 wounded.
The target of the attack was thought to be the government intelligence building nearby but the car bomb was parked outside a hospital gate. The intelligence building suffered some damaged but the casualties are said to health workers, patients, residents and those coming to see hospitalised family members.
AOAV records casualties (i.e. people killed and injured) from explosive violence around the world as reported in English-language news sources.
Afghanistan was the country worst impacted by explosive weapons in August; with 734 civilian casualties from such violence last month. Violence appears to be worsening in Afghanistan, with the collapse of peace talks and the in the lead up to presidential elections.
Last month, 92% of civilian casualties in Afghanistan were caused by IEDs – 56% were from suicide attacks alone.
The attacks seen in 2019 are set to make this year the worst recorded in Afghanistan since AOAV began the monitor in 2010. Between January and August 2019, AOAV has recorded 3,068 civilian casualties from explosive violence in Afghanistan. No previous year has seen more civilian casualties in the same period.
AOAV calls for states and international organisations to work collaboratively to generate greater awareness of the number of civilians killed and injured by IEDs, and encourage a greater stigma from political, religious and social leaders on the use of IEDs.
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