Civilian deaths in Afstan this year

This AP story indicates comparable figures from various sources:

U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces fighting insurgents in Afghanistan have killed at least 203 civilians so far this year - surpassing the 178 civilians killed in militant attacks, according to an Associated Press tally.

Insurgency attacks and military operations have surged in recent weeks, and in the past 10 days, more than 90 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery fire targeting Taliban insurgents, said President Hamid Karzai.

On Sunday, another civilian may have been killed when British troops opened fire in a populated area after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, officials and witnesses said.

Separate figures from the U.N. and an umbrella organization of Afghan and international aid groups show that the numbers of civilians killed by international forces is approximately equal to those killed by insurgents.

After a seething speech by Karzai on Saturday - in which he accused NATO and U.S. forces of viewing Afghan lives as "cheap" - NATO conceded that it had to "do better." Coalition spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher suggested that some civilians reportedly killed by foreign forces may in fact have been killed by insurgents...

The AP count of civilian casualties is based on reports from Afghan and foreign officials and witnesses through Saturday. Of the 399 civilian deaths so far this year, 18 civilians were killed in crossfire between Taliban militants and foreign forces.

The U.S. and NATO did not have civilian casualty figures. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has counted 213 civilians killed by insurgents in the first five months of this year - compared to 207 killed by Afghan and international forces.

ACBAR - the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief - has counted 230 civilians killed in U.S. and NATO operations, basing their figure on reports from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghan NGO Security Office and the U.N.

The number of civilians killed in militant attacks was approximately the same as those killed by foreign forces according to ACBAR's latest figures from about a month ago, said Anja de Beer, director of ACBAR...

Keep in mind what Human Rights Watch says of the Taliban (for 2006 and early 2007):

Afghanistan: Civilians Bear Cost of Escalating Insurgent Attacks
Rising Civilian Death Toll Points to Taliban, Hezb-e Islami War Crimes

Especially when you see another of the Globe and Mail's screaming, agenda-driving, front page headlines:

Civilian casualties soaring

Dozens of villagers were reported dead in the latest air strike in southern Afghanistan yesterday, pushing estimates of civilians killed by foreign troops to a level that observers describe as "alarming."

Afghan police said overnight bombing in Helmand province left 25 villagers dead, which by one count would mean at least 250 civilians have died by accident this year under fire from international forces and their Afghan allies.

By one estimate, that suggests civilian casualties are running at twice the rate of last year. Human Rights Watch has estimated that NATO and U.S. military operations killed 230 civilians in 2006...

The Globe does have the good grace to print this paragraph, though well into the story:

The Taliban inflict far worse civilian casualties with their attacks [at least in 2006 - MC] - Human Rights Watch counted at least 669 people killed by insurgents last year [about three times the number killed the internationals] - but Afghans are increasingly expressing anger against the foreign troops, who are presumed to be more capable of aiming their attacks accurately.