Government loses credibility in fight against Taliban: report

CIVIC study says govt must provide more compensation, calls on militants to halt attacks on civilians.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's government is overlooking the scale of civilian casualties in its war against militants and will lose credibility unless it acts to ease the suffering, a report by a US pressure group showed.

The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), due to release its study in Islamabad on Thursday, says there were likely more civilian casualties in Pakistan in 2009 than in neighbouring Afghanistan.

‘Despite the severity of losses and consequences of ignoring them, civilian casualties receive too little attention from US, Pakistani and donor-nation policy-makers, military officials and international organisations alike,’ said CIVIC.

‘Overlooking the majority of civilians harmed or displaced by combat operations is undermining the Pakistani government's legitimacy.’

The study was based on interviews over the past year with policy-makers, NGO officials and over 160 civilians who suffered direct losses from the conflict in the northwest.

‘Headlines focus on the horrors of terrorism in Pakistan, but CIVIC's research shows that civilians suffer greatly from a much broader range of conflict-related violence,’ it said.

‘Military operations, particularly artillery shelling and airpower, cause significant civilian losses.’

The United Nations says more than 2,400 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009. CIVIC said civilian casualties in Pakistan likely exceeded that number if losses from military operations and US drone strikes are counted.

‘Civilians are caught between militants and forces, while also suffering the consequences of extrajudicial killings, sectarian violence, explosive remnants of war and US drone strikes.’ it said.

While the report noted that the government was the only party attempting to make amends directly to civilian war victims, it said more compensation was needed.

‘Most victims interviewed were left without amends for their losses due to serious deficiencies in compensation mechanisms and no US effort to help those harmed by its combat operations; this, despite US programmes for such victims in Iraq and Afghanistan,’ said the report.

CIVIC called on the government to take steps to ease civilian hardship, including halting all extrajudicial killings and the destruction of homes and other property as retribution or collective punishment.

CIVIC said its interviews with civilians and evidence from human rights groups indicated both sides have carried out extrajudicial killings.

It urged militant groups to cease all attacks directly targeting civilians, to comply with applicable laws of war and not inhibit aid provided to civilian victims.

‘Civilian victims expressed anger at warring parties for their losses. Despite some people's fear of retribution for speaking out, many placed the blame squarely on the Pakistani and US militaries,’ said the study.

Some civilians complain the army uses disproportionate force against its enemies.

‘For two or three militants they crush the whole village, and so we are against the army,’ the report quoted Tila Mohammed, who said he lost both arms to a tank shell, as saying.