A suicide bomb at the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul killed 60 [File: REUTERS]

The violence is spreading insecurity which has hampered relief work, aid groups said.

Unrest had spread to once stable areas and welfare agencies were forced to scale back aid delivery even as drought and food price hikes put millions of people in difficulty, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (Acbar) said on Friday.

"So far this year the number of insurgent attacks, bombings and other violent incidents is up by approximately 50 per cent on the same period last year," said Acbar, a grouping of about 100 Afghan and international non-governmental organisations.

Anja Debeer, co-ordinator of Acbar in Afghanistan, said that the attacks had "greatly affected" the aid group's capability to operate and aid workers were being subjected to threats and kidnappings.

"Access to people in the greatest need of aid becomes more and more limited and so we will be less effective and efficient," she said.

"If you look at the drought situation and the increase in food prices where four million people are at risk, if it is not possible to get food to them in time, there could a famine."

Civilian death toll

There were 463 Taliban attacks in May and 569 in June, Acbar said in a statement, citing figures from a range of sources including the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office.
 
This was "greater than the number of such attacks in any other month since the end of major hostilities following the international intervention in 2001," it said.
 
"This year 2,500 people have reportedly lost their lives in the conflict and whilst exact figures are not yet available, this could include up to 1,000 civilians," the group added.
 
Initial estimates were that more than 260 civilians were killed in July, which has higher than any other month in the past six years, it said.
 
July saw some of the worst violence of an insurgency by Islamic fighters launched after the Taliban were ousted from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001.
 
A suicide bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed around 60 people and other attacks left dozens more dead.

Military action, mostly air strikes on the Taliban, killed nearly 80 civilians, according to Afghan and military officials.

Afghan leader Karzai is facing resistance from Akbari's Mujahidin of Herat

Closure of schools

"So far this year 19 NGO staff have been killed, which already exceeds the total number of NGO workers killed last year."
 
Violence had forced the closure of schools and health facilities in the south, it said. It was also hindering vital development  projects.
 
Drought and higher food prices meanwhile put more than four million Afghans in "extremely difficult circumstances", especially  young children and breastfeeding or pregnant woman.
 
"Increasing and spreading insecurity is jeopardising the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance to these people and  threatening their lives and livelihoods," said Acbar.
 
Acbar called on all parties to the conflict to prioritise the safety of civilians and observe "fundamental standards of humanity" and "the established international laws of armed conflict."
 
This included distinguishing between civilians and combatants; never using civilians as a shield; not attacking humanitarian, development and medical personnel or supplies.
 
Acbar also called for an end to hostage taking and said military raids should be conducted with proportionate force, with speedy compensation for civilians who suffered as a result.

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