Jon Hemming

KABUL, Aug 1 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Violence in Afghanistan has reached its worst level since 2001 with more than 260 civilians killed in July alone, a group of 100 aid agencies said on Friday while calling on all sides to respect the lives of non-combatants.

The number of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan was greater in both May and June than in any month since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, said the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an umbrella group of non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan.

"We, the 100 national and international NGO members of ACBAR, express our grave concern about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and the serious impact on civilians," ACBAR said in a statement.

The number of international troops in Afghanistan has gone up by more than 10,000 in the last year to some 71,000 and the Afghan troop levels have also risen by around the same number, but the Taliban insurgency has expanded both in scope and depth.

NATO commanders say violence is up by some 40 percent in eastern Afghanistan since spring this year, partly due to troops patrolling more areas, but also due to more militants able to cross from Pakistan due to ceasefires with the government there.

Some 2,500 people have been killed in the conflict this year, up to 1,000 of them civilians, and 260 of them in July alone, ACBAR said.

Some two-thirds of civilian deaths are due to insurgent attacks, it said, "especially the increasing use of suicide bombings and other indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas and the use of civilian property from which to launch attacks".

Taliban insurgents in the south and east of the country "are mounting an increasingly vigorous, systematic terror campaign of threats, abductions and executions aimed against members of the civilian population", ACBAR said.

But the increased number of air strikes by international forces, which it said were up by about 40 percent since last year, also contributed to the rising civilian death toll.

"Searches conducted by Afghan and international forces have on some occasions involved excessive use of force, extra-judicial killings, destruction of property and/or mistreatment of suspects," the statement said.

The escalating violence has led to closure of a large number of schools and health facilities, hindered aid and development projects and caused significant levels of internal displacement.

Aid agencies have been subject to attacks, threats and intimidation and 19 NGO staff have been killed this year.

ACBAR called on all parties in the conflict to take all possible steps to minimize civilian casualties and use proportionate levels of force.

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