The number of women and children killed or injured through the year in Afghanistan increased by 23 percent and 13 percent, respectively, as overall casualties reached record levels.
There have been 4,921 civilian casualties -- 1,592 civilians killed and 3,329 wounded -- in Afghanistan from January until June, a one percent increase over last year's record, according to a report by the United Nations released Wednesday.
There has been a steady rise in civilian casualties, those killed or wounded, since the U.N. began compiling comprehensive casualty reports since 2009, when the total amount of civilians casualties in Afghanistan was 1,439.
Overall civilian casualties this year are expected to equal or exceed those in 2014.
This year, about 90 percent of civilian casualties occurred from ground engagements, improvised explosive devices, targeted killings, suicide attacks and complex attacks -- assaults conducted by multiple hostile elements that use at least two distinct classes of weaponry.
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