Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- The United Nations finds a tiny glimmer of good news in Afghanistan in a new report out Wednesday , saying that violence against civilians fell in the first half of the year . But even with attacks down 15 % compared with the first six months of 2011 , violence is taking a `` devastating toll on civilians , '' the United Nations said . It cited the case of a father who brought his family to collect ID cards from a government office in Herat province , leaving his children and their mother by the gate while he went to find staff members . `` I heard a loud explosion and I ran back to the gate . I saw people lying in blood on the ground . I saw one of my daughters dead on the ground and my other three daughters and their mother wounded , '' said the man , who was not named in the report . Another of his daughters later died of her wounds in the April attack that left 13 people dead and 57 wounded , the U.N. said . They were among 1,145 people killed and 1,954 injured in the first six months of the year , the report found . That 's down from 1,510 killed and 2,144 injured in the same period a year earlier . But the drop does little more than to bring levels of violence down to what they were in 2010 , says the report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan . Still , the drop marks the first time in five years there has been a fall rather than a rise in violence against civilians , the report said . Eighty percent of the attacks against civilians are by anti-government forces such as the Taliban , the U.N. said , while 10 % are by government forces . The world body could not determine responsibility for the other 10 % , the report said . The Taliban rejected the report as `` baseless and untrue , '' saying its fighters were taking more care not to kill civilians . `` Our freedom fighters are now more responsible and careful when it comes to civilian casualties . That is why , in general , civilian casualty has decreased , '' Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said . He also disputed the U.N. definition of `` civilian , '' saying : `` The Kabul administration and whoever either works for them or supports them in one way or the other can be our target . '' He accused `` the invaders '' and the government of killing , injuring and jailing civilians , and said the U.N. report did not include them . `` The Afghan people are our own people , and those who do n't have any links with invaders will always be safe , and we would put our lives at great risk to keep them safe , '' he said .
NEW : The Taliban rejects the report , saying it is trying not to target civilians . It 's the first time in five years there has been a fall in violence against civilians . The drop brings the level down only to what it was two years ago . Attacks still take a `` devastating toll on civilians , '' the U.N. mission in Afghanistan says .