The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.
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The attack is the first time ISIS had struck the Afghan capital. Most of those killed were civilians.
The U.N. report does not include this weekend’s attack. After two years of heavy casualties, the Afghan military is trying to retake the initiative in the war against militants with a new offensive next week, an assault that will see American troops back working more closely with Afghan soldiers.
Civilian casualties touched a record high in the first half of 2016, with 388 children killed and 1,121 wounded.
The casualties have reached their highest level since the United Nations began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009. Still, injuries were up 6 percent. That’s 18 per cent more than during the first half of 2015.
1,509 child victims are reported to have been killed – a third of the fatal total.
“The violations laid bare in this report set in motion a cascade of potential human rights abuses that stretch from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean and beyond, as so many Afghans are driven to seek refuge overseas, taking enormous risks”, United Nations high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a press statement.
“Ground engagements continue to cause the highest number of civilian casualties, followed by complex and suicide attacks and improved explosive devices (IEDs)”, the report says. Overall, there was a 4.4 percent increase in civilian casualties.
Anti-government forces were responsible for 60 percent of casualties, while pro-government troops were responsible for 23 percent, according to the report. The rest were attributed to both or unattributed. So far in 2016, Afghan troop deaths are 20 percent higher than the same point a year ago.
The figures represent a 47 percent increase in the casualties caused by government forces in comparison with the same time period a year ago.
The security forces were responsible for some 1,180 civilian casualties over the period, said the report.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani thanked the Prime Minister for expressing solidarity with the government and people of Afghanistan at this critical moment.
ISIS is battling the Taliban for territory in the country’s eastern provinces and the group has steadily grown in influence in the country that has been wracked by conflict since the US coalition invasion in 2001.
“UNAMA therefore reiterates its call for a fully independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigation of the airstrike on the [Doctors Without Borders] hospital”, the report said. “Any personnel found to have committed such crimes must be held accountable”. That’s up from 13 casualties during the same period a year ago.
Human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and judges have also been targeted, in some cases being labeled by the Taliban as “military targets”.
While the movement may have been limited to eastern Afghanistan, that need not stop it from seeking to spread violence and raise its profile with more attacks on civilian targets, officials said.
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Daesh has reportedly managed to establish connections with the Taliban’s splinter groups, especially those believed to be discontent with changes in the militant group’s leadership.
