An Afghan youth carries a bundle of hay on his back as U.S. army soldiers pass by during a patrol in Kolack, a village in northeastern Afghanistan. (Brennan Linsley/Associated Press)

The number of civilians killed or injured in Afghanistan jumped 31 per cent in the first six months of the year due to a rise in violence by insurgents, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday.

More than 1,270 people were killed and 1,997 injured between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2010, according to the report.

Insurgents, or what the report calls "anti-government elements," were responsible for 76 per cent of those casualties, an increase of 53 per cent over the same period in 2009.

Staffan De Mistura, special representative of the United Nations for Afghanistan, speaks during a news conference in Kabul in March 2010. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)

"The first six months of 2010 painted a grim and bleak picture for civilians affected by the armed conflict," the report said.

The report, and the rising human cost of the conflict in Afghanistan that it reflects, are "a wake-up call," said Staffan De Mistura, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan.

"We are worried," De Mistura said. "We are very concerned about the future because the human cost is being paid too heavily by civilians."

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the increase "shocking."

"We cannot compensate the loss of any single Afghan who lost their life," Waheed Omar told a press conference in Kabul, Reuters reported.

"Our motto is protection of the Afghan people, providing protection to the Afghan people," Omar reportedly said. "Any single case of civilian causalities is not justifiable on our side."

Children, women most vulnerable

Children and women are increasingly paying the cost, the report showed.

Female casualties rose six per cent between January and June, while child casualties jumped 55 per cent over the year before.

Afghan children look out from behind coils of razor wire as they watch Canadian troops and Afghan National Army soldiers patrol near the Mas'um Ghar base in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan in 2006. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) The increases are due to "an extreme lack of protection in conflict-affected areas along with widespread violation of their basic human rights," the report said.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, caused 29 per cent of all civilian deaths in the first half of 2010, and were overall the insurgents' "deadliest tactic."

As the UN held its briefing in Kabul, three civilians were killed when their car struck a roadside bomb just outside Ghazni city in eastern Afghanistan, according to Kazim Allayar, deputy governor of Ghazni province.

An insurgent-planted bomb also killed an Afghan civilian near the southern end of the city of Kandahar on Monday, according to NATO forces.

De Mistura said the insurgent-caused jump in civilian deaths would not dissuade the UN from seeking a negotiated peace with the Taliban.

Military reaction

Deaths from U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces dropped in the first six months of 2010. The report said that 223, or 18 per cent, of the Afghan deaths were due to U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces. That was down from 310 deaths, or 31 per cent, during the first six months of last year, primarily because of a decrease in air strikes, the report said.

Even so, air attacks were the largest single cause of civilian deaths caused by pro-government forces — accounting for 31 per cent.

'We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbours.' —Gen. David Petraeus, NATO commander

"Every Afghan death diminishes our cause," Gen. David Petraeus, NATO's commander, said in a statement. He also noted that even the increase in insurgent-caused deaths could hurt NATO's effort.

"We know the measure by which our mission will be judged is protecting the population from harm by either side. We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbours," Petraeus said.

Assassinations rise

Though bombs continued to be the largest killer, there was a large jump in deaths from assassinations, particularly in the last few months.

There were about four assassinations or executions of civilians a week in the first six months of 2009. That jumped to about seven per week this year, and in May and June to 18 per week.

The Taliban has called on their fighters to avoid civilian casualties, but the group pointedly excludes anyone allied with the government from this protection. So mayors, community elders taking foreign money for development projects and mullahs seen as supporting the government have all become targets.

With files from The Associated Press