Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit record high amid US withdrawal, UN says
CNN
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan reached record levels in the first half of 2021, the United Nations warned Monday, noting that deaths and injuries spiked markedly from May when the United States and its allies began withdrawing troops from the country.
Some 5,183 casualties were recorded in the first six months of the year -- a 47% increase from 2020 -- the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) found in a report. The number of deaths and injuries recorded during May and June alone was 2,392, almost as high as the total for the preceding four months, when 2,791 casualties were recorded.Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.
Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality and people who have served on his US Secret Service detail to run the agency that has been plagued by its failure to preempt two alleged assassination attempts on Trump this summer, sources familiar with the president-elect’s thinking tell CNN.