Afghan civilian deaths hit new high!

KABUL, Afghanistan - March 9, 2011 - Last year was the deadliest yet for civilians in the Afghan war, with a 15% jump in the death toll, the UN said in a report Wednesday which laid bare the conflict's impact on ordinary people.

The 2,777 deaths underscore the level of violence in the country as foreign troops prepare to start handing control of security to Afghan forces in some areas beginning in July and ahead of a full transition due by 2014.

According to the figures, insurgents were responsible for 75% of all civilian deaths, up 28% on 2009.

That compared to 16% for international and Afghan government forces, down 26% on the previous year, while responsibility for the remaining deaths could not be attributed.

Large numbers of children and women were among the dead - 1,175 and 555, respectively.

The issue of civilian deaths caused by coalition forces, long a thorny question for the U.S.-led troops, is particularly sensitive in Afghanistan at the moment.

Last week, nine young boys were massacred by U.S. forces while out collecting firewood, in an air strike in eastern Afghanistan.