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In what could point to decreased accuracy in targeting or a possible shift in the rules of engagement, the rate at which civilians are being killed by United States airstrikes in Afghanistan is now at its highest point since 2008, an analysis of newly published United Nations data reveals.
On average, one civilian was killed for every four drone or jet strikes in 2015—up from one civilian death for every 11 attacks the year before, and the first time the casualty rate has risen since 2011, according to research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The rate was last at such levels at the height of the Afghanistan War in 2008, when one civilian was killed for every three attacks.
The rates were calculated using civilian death tolls compiled by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for its annual report and from official U.S. Air Force data on the number of strikes it carries out in the country …. http://www.newsweek.com