BackAfghanistan least peaceful country in world for 5th consecutive year: Report
Afghanistan remains the least peaceful country in the world for the fifth consecutive year, according to the Global Peace Index 2022 report. The Taliban have disputed the findings, claiming a significant reduction in terrorist incidents and casualties.
PremiumAfghanistan is the least peaceful country in the world for the fifth consecutive year, according to the 'Global Peace Index 2022' report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). Taliban reacted to the findings and called it ‘unjust’.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that terrorist incidents have reduced by over 99 percent in comparison to "what is stated in the report."
"They said that the number of casualties went up. They still say 4,000 civilian casualties -- it is untrue. We may have casualties up to 1,000. There have been some Daesh attacks in the past years or one last year, but (Daesh) is controlled," he said
Yemen, Syria, Russia, and South Sudan are followed by Afghanistan in the Global Peace Index 2022 report. All these countries have remained among the ten least peaceful nations for the past three years, Tolo News reported.
"Afghanistan recorded the fifth largest improvement in peacefulness in the 2023 GPI, however, it remains the least peaceful country in the world. Although violence is still widespread throughout the country, the level of conflict has dropped considerably since the withdrawal of US troops in August 2021, and the subsequent Taliban takeover of the government," the report read.
It also stated that Afghanistan recorded the largest reduction in deaths from armed conflicts last year with the number of conflict deaths from almost 43,000 has fallen to just more than 4,000.
However, the perceptions regarding the criminality of Afghan nationals have slightly improved as the number of people who say they felt unsafe walking alone reduced from 84 percent to 77 percent, the IEP report said.
In addition, terrorist incidents in Afghanistan have also been reduced by 75 percent in 2022 and the related deaths have come down by 58%, the report said, adding that the security situation remains uncertain with an escalation in the conflict between ISK and the Taliban remains a strong possibility, as per Tolo News reports.
The report, titled "Impact of Improvise Explosive Devices," said that since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, a total of 701 people were killed and 2,113 were wounded due to the IED.
"Three-quarters of these civilian casualties (2,814 civilian casualties: 701 killed, 2,113 wounded) were caused by indiscriminate IED attacks in populated areas, including places of worship, schools, and markets," the report added.
(With ANI inputs)
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