Taliban accuses United Nations of falsifying death toll

Feb 5, 2012, 14:41 GMT

Kabul - The Taliban accused the United Nations on Sunday of falsifying statistics which had shown NATO forces in Afghanistan had killed fewer civilians after imposing strict rules on troops.

The riposte came a day after the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in its annual report said it had documented 3,021 civilian deaths in the country during the last year.

The report blamed Taliban militants for 77 per cent of the killings and said NATO and Afghan government forces were responsible for 410 civilian deaths.

In an online statement, the Taliban accused the UN of trying to 'legalize the crimes committed by the foreign forces invading Afghanistan.'

'It is a surprise that the UN in its report say that only 63 people were killed in night raids last year,' Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman said in the statement.

He said the insurgents recorded at least 374 deaths in controversial night raids and airstrikes by the NATO forces.

The Taliban spokesman said the UN administration ought 'not to sacrifice its dignity in favour of Americans,' or 'people would think that the United Nations is... not an independent international administration.'

The Taliban have waged a bloody, decade-old insurgency in Afghanistan against the internationally backed government in Kabul. They have agreed to open an office in the Gulf state of Qatar to talk to the international community while keeping up military operations.

UN data on Saturday had shown a 4-per-cent decrease in the number of NATO-caused civilian casualties after NATO applied stricter rules.

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