Roundup: Afghanistan sees rising monthly casualties in May
by Farid Behbud
KABUL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan sustained increasing casualties of war and conflicts in May as militants intensified attacks after launching a yearly spring offensive against the security forces.
Nearly 200 people lost their lives and 250 wounded in the Taliban-led attacks and conflicts in the month, compared with 90 and 170 for the previous month, respectively.
More than 50 major bomb attacks took place last month elsewhere in the country, including 11 suicide bombings, according to official data.
On Saturday, 12 civilians were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bombing in the country's eastern province of Ghazni.
The Taliban insurgent group started on May 12 the offensive against Afghan security forces and more than 52,000 NATO-led troops.
On the day, 20 people were killed and 30 others wounded in a string of attacks across the country.
Two civilian female staffers of Afghan Defense Ministry were killed and 15 army personnel were wounded as a suicide bomber targeted an army bus in capital city Kabul on May 26.
On May 23, five terrorists launched an attack on Indian consulate in western Herat province. The consulate building was damaged and a nearby compound where militants took position was caught fire. However, no consulate staffer or security forces were hurt in the attack.
A bloody attack occurred on May 1 when a suicide car bombing hit the main security checkpoint in eastern Punisher province, killing 13 people and injuring 20 others.
At least five targeted killings occurred in a number of provinces last month, claiming the lives of several government officials and local leaders.
On May 1, five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in a suicide car bombing on an army convoy in southern Kandahar province.
Local analysts feared that the Taliban would continue their attacks across the country as the Afghan army and police took the lead in combat operations.
More than 52,000-strong NATO-led foreign troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are being deployed in Afghanistan.
On May 27, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he planned to leave 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014. The troops will be reduced by roughly half by the end of 2015 and draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul by the end of 2016.
Most of the foreign forces are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
The exact number of casualties on the Afghan army and police last month remained unknown.
Four U.S. soldiers of the coalition lost their lives last month.
One soldier was killed following a helicopter crash in Kandahar province on May 28 while one U.S. service member died in a small arm fire in western Heart province.
Two soldiers died of non-hostile injuries last month.
About 33 NATO soldiers have been killed in the country since January 1.
More than 2,900 civilians were killed and nearly 5,700 wounded in conflicts and Taliban-led attacks in the war-torn country last year, according to official figures.