PICTURE LEFT:In this Sunday, July 19, 2009 file photo, the body of a civilian, who was killed by a suicide attack, is transferred on a police vehicle in Torkham, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, file)
UN:"Civilian deaths up 24 percent in Afghanistan"
The United Nations said Friday the number of civilians killed in conflict in Afghanistan has jumped 24 percent so far this year, with bombings by insurgent and airstrikes by international forces the biggest single killers.In a grim assessment of the first half of 2009, the U.N. assistance mission in Afghanistan said the Taliban and other anti-government militants have become more deadly by shifting from ambush attacks to suicide bombings, roadside explosives and targeted assassinations....