Kabul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The nine Afghans killed yesterday in the northern province of Balkh worked for a Czech humanitarian organization. The assault, believed to have been led by the Taliban - but there are still no claims - is a confirmation of the increasing number of casualties in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2015, while a study has estimated over 100 thousand deaths since 2001.
The overnight massacre involved eight men and a woman, belonging to the "People in Need" organization which was developing projects for the government’s agricultural development program.
The recently published study conducted by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University and entitled "Costs of War" focused on the death toll following the American invasion of Afghanistan and until the withdrawal last year.
According to this study, there were 100 thousand people killed in the country and many more who have been left with serious injuries. Along with Pakistan, almost 149,000 civilians and military have been killed and 162,000 seriously injured.
The study, based on United Nations data shows that in Afghanistan the number of civilian casualties increased by 16 percent in the first four months of 2015, with 974 deaths and 1,963 injured. This shows, according to Neta Crawford, author of the study, that the war in Afghanistan is not over, but "getting worse".