UN Secretary General António Guterres has submitted the quarterly report on Afghanistan to the UN Security Council and highlighted Afghanistan’s ongoing political developments, security, regional cooperation, human rights, the coordination of development assistance, humanitarian assistance and returnees, ceasefire, drug trafficking and election process.

According to the report, Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties and political movements have intensified their efforts ahead of October parliamentary elections with politicians insisting on reforms in the election system.

“Political mobilization intensified as opposition groups formed coalitions ahead of parliamentary elections, scheduled for 20 October. A diverse group of political parties continued to demand electoral reforms, with some threatening an electoral boycott if their demands were not met,” read the report.

The report stated the electoral management bodies continued preparations for parliamentary elections, although it was proposed that district council elections, initially scheduled for the same date, be postponed because of low numbers of candidate nominations.

The UN chief stated that the government and the Taliban implemented overlapping ceasefires over the Eid al-Fitr holiday, resulting in a three day drop in violence between government forces and Taliban loyalists. However, the Taliban rejected calls for an extension of the ceasefire, and both sides resumed offensive operations.

On the political development in the country, he said: “The mobilization of the political opposition described in my previous report intensified as parliamentary elections drew near and difficulties in the process became clearer.

He also said that discontent over electoral preparations was largely focused in the North, where security conditions continued to deteriorate, and some opposition figures accused government of a deliberate plot to disenfranchise northern communities.

To support preparations for the 2018 elections, the United Nations and the electoral management bodies signed a revised Electoral Support Project document on July 25, with donors pledging an additional $57 million in financial support, the report stated.

On the peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the UN chief’s reported noted that the momentum in support of a peace process with the Taliban continued, aided by the increasingly active engagement of civil society and religious leaders calling for peace between government and the Taliban.

“Bolstered by pro-peace developments in the civic sphere, signs of flexibility emerged among the main parties to the conflict,” he said referring to President Ashraf Ghani’s announcement of a unilateral eight-day cessation of hostilities with the Taliban which began on 12 June, to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The ensuing three days of overlapping ceasefires witnessed a significant drop in violent incidents, the report stated said.

Volatile security

The UN chief said that the security situation remained volatile, with continuing high numbers of incidents briefly interrupted by the reduction in violence during the Eid al-Fitr ceasefires. Between 15 May and 15 August, UNAMA recorded a total of 5,800 security incidents, a 10 per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2017.

He said the southern region saw the highest number of incidents followed by the eastern and south-eastern regions, with those three regions accounting for 67 per cent of all incidents. Although armed clashes continued to make up the largest number of security incidents (61 per cent of all incidents), the number of armed clashes fell by 14 per cent compared with the same period in 2017.

Concerns remained over deteriorating security conditions in the north.

“There were no sustained changes in territorial control between the Government and the Taliban during the reporting period. The Taliban mounted a number of attacks against district administrative centres, temporarily taking control of Jaghatu and Deh Yak in Ghazni Province, Tala Wa Barfak and Burkah in Baghlan Province and Atghar in Zabul Province, before withdrawing following counter-attacks by Afghan national security forces, often supported by international military airstrikes. On 10 August, the Taliban launched a large-scale attack against the capital of Ghazni Province, Ghazni City. Fighting lasted five days before the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces pushed Taliban fighters to the edge of the city,” the report said.

On the activities of Daesh militants, he said: “ISIL-KP remained a significant presence in the eastern region, claiming responsibility for eight suicide and complex attacks in Nangarhar Province during the reporting period, two attacks in Kabul and one in Gardez City. ISIL-KP continued to fight against the Taliban in the East, with armed clashes reported in Nangarhar and Kunar Provinces.

He said that the momentum towards a consolidated regional approach to peace in Afghanistan, generated by the second meeting of the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation and progress was made on the implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity, which was finalized in May

Human Rights and civilian casualties

“On 15 July, UNAMA released its 2018 midyear update on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The Mission documented 5,122 civilian casualties (1,692 people killed and 3,430 injured) between 1 January and 30 June 2018, the highest number of civilian deaths recorded in a six-month period since UNAMA began systematic documentation in 2009.

Overall levels of civilian harm were similar to the same period in 2017. UNAMA attributed 67 per cent of all civilian casualties to anti-government elements (42 per cent to the Taliban, 18 per cent to ISIL-KP, 7 per cent to unidentified anti-government elements, including self-proclaimed ISIL-KP), 20 per cent to pro-government forces, 10 per cent to unattributed crossfire during ground engagements between anti-government elements and pro-government forces, and 3 per cent to other incidents, including explosive remnants of war and crossborder shelling,” said the report.

Based on the report, attacks targeting election-related sites from April to June resulted in 341 civilian casualties (117 people killed and 224 injured), most of which (over 250 casualties) resulted from two attacks, in Kabul City on 22 April and in Khost Province on 6 May.

UNAMA documented attacks on tazkira (national identification card) distribution centres and voter registration sites, as well as attacks against election - related personnel. It also recorded threats, abductions and killings of candidates and their supporters.

Humanitarian assistance and returnees

In 2018, 178,002 people were newly displaced by conflict and the demand for trauma care for victims of war increased to 24,687 cases in 2018, an increase of 14 per cent compared with 2017.

The report says that a total of 210,724 Afghan citizens, including spontaneous returnees, deportees and refugees, returned to Afghanistan during the reporting period.

According to IOM, from 14 May to 18 August 2018, 7,433 undocumented returnees arrived from Pakistan and 198,954 from the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the same period, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees assisted the return of 3,859 refugees from Pakistan, 446 from the Islamic Republic of Iran and 32 from other countries.

During the reporting period, the Government started working on a new national drugs strategy in response to recent increases in opium cultivation and production. Regionally, the new strategy is backed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and its partners under the strategic actions to respond to the glob al threats of opiates.

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