Civilian casualties in E. Ukraine conflict at record low: UN

Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-12 22:09:10|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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KIEV, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said on Tuesday it had recorded 279 civilian casualties in eastern Ukraine in 2018, the lowest number since the conflict began in the region in 2014.

Fiona Frazer, the head of the mission, told a media briefing in Kiev that 55 civilians were killed in the conflict-hit area and 224 others were injured in 2018.

Frazer did not specify the reasons behind the decrease, but the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said last month that the number of ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine had decreased by 22 percent last year, while the number of explosions caused by heavy weaponry had went down by 75 percent.

The conflict between government troops and pro-independence armed groups in eastern Ukraine has been raging since April 2014, claiming the lives of about 13,000 people, including some 3,000 civilians.

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