(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) A new study says Afghanistan has replaced Syria as the "least peacefulcountry in the world.
KABUL - The Global Peace Index, an annual report by the Sydney-based thinktank the Institute for Economics and Peace, says security developments inSyria, including the defeat of the Islamic State militants, has pushedAfghanistan to become the least peaceful country among the 163 states coveredby the study.
'The war in Afghanistan is now the most violent in the world, Mohib Iqbal,a research fellow at the institute, told RFE/RL's Gandhara website. 'In 2017,there were some 18,000 combatant casualties, and that number has increasedsince.
He says that overall more than 30,000 combatants and non-combatants werekilled in Afghanistan during the past year.
According to a United Nations report in February, 2018 was the most violentyear for civilians. The report by the United Nations Assistance Mission inAfghanistan said that more than 11,000 Afghan civilians were killed and woundedin attacks by militants, airstrikes, military sweeps, and fighting between theAfghan forces and militants.
'Violence has consistently increased in Afghanistan during the past five orsix years, Iqbal noted.
He said the defeat of the Islamic State militants in Syria and thereduction of violence in the country to a few pockets have significantlydecreased the overall violence in Syria.
'This is why Syria has moved to the second place and it is being replacedby Afghanistan as the least peaceful country in our index, he said.
The Global Peace Index 2019 says the world has become 'very slightly morepeaceful for the first time in five years. But conflicts in the Middle East, arise in terrorism, and increasing numbers of refugees still make it"considerably less peaceful now than a decade ago.
The war in Afghanistan is considered one of the most intractable conflictsin the world. It began after a violent coup by communist military officers in1978. Since then, more than 1 million Afghans are estimated to have been killedand injured. The various phases of the war have also displaced more than 10million Afghans. (RFE/RL)
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