Civilian deaths in Afghanistan have soared by a whopping 330 percent under US President Donald Trump, according to a new report which blames the administration's move to loosen military rules of engagement three years ago.
During the first three years of Trump's presidency, an average of 1,134 civilians were killed annually by US-led airstrikes and Afghan government forces � an increase of almost 95 percent on the average yearly death toll under former President Barack Obama � according to a report published Monday by Brown University's Costs of War Project.
In the first six months of 2017, the US bombed Afghanistan 1,984 times, three times as often as it had during the same period of 2016. The increased number of airstrikes was a direct result of the Trump administration having "relaxed its rules of engagement for airstrikes," according to the report.