Civilians Pay the Cost of Taliban Campaign

With the Tailban apparently stepping up it’s campaign to regain control in Afghanistan, the number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan has jumped 22 percent over the last year, and the UN has put the casualty figures as the highest recorded in a single year since they began compiling reports in 2009.

Many civilians have been caught in the middle of fighting, and today’s attacks on a guest-house in Kabul indicate that it is not only Afghan nationals being targeted, but foreign nationals too.

The total number of civilian casualties since 2009 now stands at 17,774 killed and 29,971 injured, with a 40 percent increase in casualties among children (714 killed, 1,760 injured) in the last year, and a 21 percent rise in casualties among women (298 killed, 611 injured).

The UN said the new figures underlined the dire social and economic consequences of civilian losses on Afghan society, with the deaths or injuries of men often leaving their wives as the sole breadwinners of their households, forcing them to marry off their daughters or take children out of school to work.

As UNAMA Director of Human Rights Georgette Gagnon said: “For Afghan women and children, the anguish of losing a husband and father in the conflict is often only the beginning of their suffering and hardship.”

• Pray for Afghanistan. A nation bleeding from decades of war and oppression. Pray for the Holy Spirit to intervene in this nation, to bring peace, healing and hope to her people.
• Pray for the Afghan Government, for wisdom as it looks at how to move forward and how to deal with the threats from the Taliban.
• Pray for women and children in Afghanistan, for protection and provision and hope.
• Pray for Christians in Afghanistan, often isolated and fearful for their lives. Pray for these points of light to shine brightly in the midst of the darkness, and to know they are cared for and watched over by their Father in Heaven.

John 1 vs 5:”The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it”

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com