An important argument that is increasingly becoming a point of contention in contemporary armed conflict is the applicability of the protection of civilians in conflict armed involving non-state actors. This paper will discuss the contemporary challenges facing international humanitarian law with regard to the protection of civilians during such armed conflict. It will focus on the situation in Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The objective of this article will be to analyze the reasons why civilians are neglected during conflicts and how the different actors involved in conflicts influence international law humanitarian. This goal is driven by the need to understand why most casualties in modern conflicts are primarily civilians and not soldiers. The paper will examine the conflict in Afghanistan using the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two Additional Protocols of 1977. As a general principle, civilians are entitled to a protected status under international humanitarian law and cannot be attacked . However, the laws of war recognize that some civilians are more innocent and deserving of protection than others and that those who directly participate in hostilities during an armed conflict lose their protected status and may be attacked. However, the military has an obligation to take all possible measures to protect a civilian population2. Indeed, during an armed conflict, the protection of civilians takes precedence over any collateral military objective. American invasion of Afghanistan After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 against the World Trade Center in New York and against the Pentagon in Washington DC3, the United States government deployed its troops to Afghanistan in October...... middle of the journal ......hgate Publishing.International Committee of the Red Cross; Ed. Pictet, J. (1960). The Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea. International Committee of the Red Cross. McCoubrey, H. (1998). International humanitarian law: modern developments in the limitation of war. Dartmouth: Ashgate Publishing. Rogers, P. (2004). A War on Terror: Afghanistan and After. United States: Pluto Press. Steiner, H., Alston, P. Goodman (2008). International human rights in context: law, politics, morality: texts and documents. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Afghanistan: Annual Report 2013, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, February 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/52f884634.html [accessed February 12 2014].