Afghanistan

A senior U.N. human rights official Feb. 24 called on international troops fighting militants in Afghanistan to follow directives designed to guard against civilian deaths, drawing particular attention to the plight of children caught up in the conflict. Last year, some 346 children were killed by warring factions in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy told reporters in Kabul. “One hundred and thirty-one of these were by aerial strikes, 22 by search-and-raid by Special Forces; 128 were killed by anti-Government elements, including assassinations and suicide bombings,” said Coomaraswamy. “The rest were undetermined perpetrators.” (U.N. News Service)