A total of 2,258 civilians were killed and injured during the first three months of 2018 in Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Thursday, a slight increase compared to corresponding period last year.

The figure involves 763 deaths and 1,495 injured.

In the first quarter of 2017, the United Nations Assistance Mission documented 2,181 civilian casualties (715 deaths and 1,466 injured).

“All parties to the conflict in Afghanistan must do everything in their power to protect civilians from harm,” said Ingrid Hayden, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.

“Afghan civilians continue to suffer, caught in the conflict, in ways that are preventable; this must stop now.”

Unlike previous report that described ground engagement as the leading cause of civilian casualties, the new report found that suicide improvised explosive devices and complex attacks caused most casualties.

It said that the number of civilian casualties attributed to militants increased by six percent to 1,500 while that attributed to pro-government forces reduced by 13 percent to 407.

Air strikes killed 142 civilian casualties, similar to the number documented during the same period last year.

UNAMA attributed 35 percent of casualties to international military forces and 35 percent to the Afghan Air Force.