UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan called on all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace.
More than 1,500 civilians were killed or injured in July due to the ongoing war in Afghanistan according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The figure is the highest in a single month since May 2017, UNAMA said in a statement.
The main driver was a sharp rise in civilian casualties from increased activity by the Taliban in urban areas against military installations.
The agency said that the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) accounted for more than 50 percent of the casualties.
UNAMA said it remained "gravely concerned" by the harm done to civilians.
"I call on all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace," UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said in the statement.
