ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Okay kiddo, let me explain civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan. So, Afghanistan is a country far away from here where there was a big fight going on. Some people wanted to take control of the country and others wanted to stop them.

Now, when people fight, they can hurt each other which is not good. It is also not good if people who are not involved in the fight get hurt. Those people are called "civilians." They are just regular people who are trying to live their everyday lives like going to school or work, playing with friends, and spending time with their families.

Unfortunately, during the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, many civilians got hurt or even killed. This happened because sometimes when the bad guys and the good guys were fighting, they were not careful and unintentionally hurt people around them.

In addition, the bad guys sometimes would use innocent people as human shields to protect themselves from the good guys. This means that they would put regular people in danger while they were fighting. The good guys did their best to avoid hurting civilians but sometimes it was very hard to know who was who.

It's really sad that so many innocent people got hurt in the war in Afghanistan. It's important to remember that everyone deserves to be safe and that war is not the answer to solve problems.