Growing violence in Afghanistan

Taliban guerillas are moving freely across the south of Afghanistan and attacks are up by 40% from this time last year. Civilian deaths have been caused mostly by indiscriminate attacks by the Taliban but also by collateral damage. Alongside a highway leading out of Kabul, refugees are pumping a well. There are young and old here. the uptick in violence has sent thousands of families on the run. These families from Helmun Province say they won’t go back home where there’s been intense fighting for months. One farmer says the government should find them jobs, but the local authorities won’t even let them bury their dead in local cemeteries. The UN Chief Humanitarian Assistance says the situation�and in the north, besides the poverty, the lack of security makes it difficult for aid workers to do their job. As such, the UN has no exact count of displaced people from the recent fighting, however they say the number of civilian deaths is up by 60% from this time last year. But the UN doesn’t have a plan to address the civilian deaths issue. The UN Humanitarian official says the civilians should be compensated. This humanitarian relief worker says civilians are now afraid of NATO officials. While international forces say they regret civilian deaths, they have no way of communicating that to regular Afghans.