The United Nations says a record number of Afghan civilians were killed in 2018, blaming the increase on unprecedented suicide bombings by militant groups and air strikes carried out by U.S.-led forces.

AVA- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the conflict in Afghanistan killed 3,804 civilians and wounded another 7,189, an 11 percent increase from 2017, in its annual report released on February 24.
The civilian death toll is the highest number since UNAMA began tallying figures in 2009.
The UNAMA report said 2018 "witnessed the highest number of civilian casualties ever recorded from suicide attacks and aerial operations."
According to the report, 63 percent of all civilian casualties were caused by militants, with the being blamed Taliban for 37 percent of the dead and wounded, the ISIS militant group for 20 percent, and other anti-government groups for 6 percent.
The Afghan government and its U.S. and NATO allies were blamed for 24 percent of the dead and wounded civilians, many of them killed in increased air strikes carried out mostly by international forces.
"For the first time since 2009, UNAMA recorded more than 1,000 civilian casualties from aerial operations," the report said.
The U.S. military said it carried out 6,823 sorties last year in which munitions were fired, the highest number in the last six years.
At least 65 suicide attacks were recorded in 2018, the majority hitting the capital, Kabul.
The report said the Taliban was responsible for 1,751 civilian casualties in 2018, compared to 916 in 2017, while the ISIS group killed or wounded 2,181 civilians last year -- the highest number ever recorded for the militant groups.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, called the spiralling number of civilian casualties "deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable."
"It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy," said Yamamoto. "The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting."