Record number of Afghan civilians killed in first half of 2018: UN
Kabul, July 15 : A total of 1,692 Afghan civilians were killed due to conflicts and terrorist attacks in the first half of this year, hitting a record high, a UN mission said on Sunday.
"Latest figures released today by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) show continuing record high casualty rates being inflicted on the Afghan civilian population by the warring parties" Xinhua news agency quoted the mission as saying in a statement
"Covering the period from January 1 to June 30, findings include the killing of more civilians in the first six months of this year - 1,692 deaths - than at any comparable time over the last 10 years since records have been kept."
The UN mission started to monitor the situation of civilians and coordinate efforts to ensure their protection in 2009.
A total of 3,430 civilians were also injured during the period. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was the leading cause of civilian casualties.
"The combined use of suicide and non-suicide IEDs caused nearly half of all civilian casualties," the statement said.
Ground engagements were the second leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by targeted and deliberate killings, aerial operations and explosive remnants of war, according to the report.
The mission has attributed 67 per cent of the civilian casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 20 per cent to security forces over the period while the rest were unattributed or caused by other reasons.
The UNAMA also renewed its call to the conflicting parties to increase efforts to protect the civilian population and encouraged them to work towards reaching a peaceful settlement.
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CM Siddaramaiah appears before Lokayukta police for questioning in MUDA case
Mysuru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appeared before the Lokayukta police here on Wednesday in response to the summons issued to him for questioning in the MUDA site allotment case.
The CM, who has been named as accused number 1 in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police, is facing allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
They had on October 25 questioned his wife, who has been named as accused number 2.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Mysuru-located Lokayukta police establishment on September 27.
Swamy and Devaraju have already deposed before the Lokayukta police.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court had on Tuesday issued notice to Siddaramaiah and others on a writ petition filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, seeking a direction to transfer the case to CBI.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who also issued notice to Parvathi, Swamy, Union of India, the State government, CBI, Lokayukta and others, directed the Lokayukta to place on record investigation conducted in the case so far.
The court posted the next hearing to November 26.
On October 24, the CM filed an appeal before the division bench of the High Court, challenging the decision of a single judge bench in connection with the MUDA site allotment case that had come as a setback to him.
The bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna had on September 24 dismissed the CM's petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for a probe against him in the case, observing that the gubernatorial order nowhere "suffers from want of application of mind".
Siddaramaiah had challenged the legality of Gehlot's sanction for the investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites by MUDA in a prime locality.
Following the High Court order, a Special Court here on the very next day had ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah, and directed to file the investigation report by December 24.
Parvathi, meanwhile, had written to MUDA to cancel 14 sites allotted to her and the MUDA had accepted it.
On September 30, the ED filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the CM and others taking cognisance of the Lokayukta FIR, and is also probing the case.
In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It is alleged Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village on the outskirts of Mysuru.
