NEW YORK, Sept 8: The Human Rights Attach said in a report on Monday that “civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and Nato airstrikes nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007, with recent deadly airstrikes exacerbating the problem and fuelling a public backlash”.

The watchdog group also condemns the Taliban’s use of “human shields” in violation of the laws of war.

The 43-page report, ‘Troops in Contact: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan’, analyses the use of airstrikes by US and Nato forces and resulting civilian casualties, particularly when used to make up for the lack of ground troops and during emergency situations. The Human Rights Watch found that a few civilian deaths resulted from planned airstrikes, while almost all deaths occurred in unplanned airstrikes.

“Rapid response airstrikes have meant higher civilian casualties, while every bomb dropped in populated areas amplifies the chance of a mistake,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch. “Mistakes by the US and Nato have dramatically decreased public support for the Afghan government and the presence of international forces providing security to Afghans.”