Washington ? War increasingly targets civilians and puts mothers and children at greater risk of dying or losing their homes, a relief group says.

In recent conflicts, civilians accounted for as much as 90 percent of all casualties, compared with 65 percent during World War II and 5 percent in 1900, according to Save the Children’s annual report on mothers, to be released today.

Even refugee camps, thought of as a safe haven from war, can be places where women are brutalized, said Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela and a former minister of education in Mozambique, who has studied the issue.

The survival of children is closely linked to the well-being of their mothers during wartime, because mothers often are the only ones to hold families together, the report found.

Switzerland tops a list of 105 countries ranked on the condition and well-being of mothers, and Niger in West Africa is last, the group said. The United States is tied for 10th with Austria.

On the children’s indicators, Afghanistan finished last behind 155 other countries. In that nation, one of every six children dies before a first birthday.