UN Extends Afghan War Mandate for Another Year

Expresses Concern About Rising Civilian Casualties

The UN Security Council moved forward with their annual rubber stamping of the NATO occupation of Afghanistan today, passing a mandate to authorize the occupation to continue for another year.

The extension concluded that the situation in Afghanistan is a “threat to international peace” and will extend the mandate through October 13, 2012, when it will be expected to pass another mandate.

They did, however, express concern with the “increased high number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, especially among women and children.” This concern, of course, included a claim that “violent and extremist groups” were to blame for those deaths, not the occupation forces.

The move comes as NATO nations are claiming that the war is going better, but a new report from a Kandahar-based NGO shows that their claims of massive killings of “Taliban leaders” are greatly exaggerated, and in many cases are fabricated entirely.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.