US 'Killed
47 Afghan
Civilians'
By BBC
11/07/08
"BBC" -- - A
US air
strike in
eastern
Afghanistan
on Sunday
killed 47
civilians,
39 of them
women and
children, an
Afghan
government
investigating
team says.
Reports at
the time
said that 20
people were
killed in
the
airstrike in
Nangarhar
province.
The US
military
said they
were
militants.
But local
people said
the dead
were wedding
party
guests.
Correspondents
say the
issue of
civilian
casualties
is hugely
sensitive in
Afghanistan.
President
Hamid Karzai
has said
that no
civilian
casualty is
acceptable.
Demand for
trial
Mr Karzai
set up a
nine-man
commission
to look into
Sunday's
incident.
The
commission
is headed by
Senate
deputy
speaker,
Burhanullah
Shinwari
whose
constituency
is in
Nangarhar
province. He
told the
BBC: ''Our
investigation
found out
that 47
civilians
(were
killed) by
the American
bombing and
nine others
injured.
"There are
39 women and
children"
among those
killed, he
said. The
eight other
people who
died were
"between the
ages of 14
and 18".
A
spokeswoman
for the US
coalition,
Lt Rumi
Nielson-Green
told the AFP
news agency
that the
force was
also
investigating
the incident
and
regretted
any loss of
civilian
life. "We
never target
non-combatants.
We do go to
great length
to avoid
civilian
casualties,"
she said.
At the time
the US said
that those
killed were
militants
involved in
previous
mortar
attacks on a
Nato base.
The incident
happened in
the remote
district of
Deh Bala,
close to the
Afghan
border.
Mirwais
Yasini,
deputy
speaker for
the lower
house of
parliament,
also has his
constituency
in Nangarhar.
''We are
very sad
about the
killings in
Deh Bala.
People
should be
compensated,"
he told the
BBC.
"These
operations
widen the
gap between
the people
and the
government."
He said that
those who
passed on
intelligence
to the US
military
ahead of the
air strike
should be
tried, "as
well as
those who
carried out
the
bombing".
Mr Yasini
demanded
that "all
operations
should be
conducted in
full
co-operation
with our
security
forces in
the future".
'Ashamed'
Correspondents
say most
civilian
deaths in
Afghanistan
are caused
by Taleban
fighters and
other
militants
opposed to
President
Karzai and
US and Nato-led
forces. On
Monday a
suicide
attack on
the Indian
embassy in
Kabul killed
41 people,
most of them
civilians.
However,
foreign
troops have
also often
killed
civilians,
leading to
an erosion
of support
for their
presence in
Afghanistan.
Last year a
US army
spokesman
said he was
"deeply
ashamed"
after US
marines
killed 19
civilians
near
Jalalabad in
Nangarhar
province.
Only a few
months
earlier, a
Nato
spokesman
said that
civilian
casualties
were the
main issue
for the
Nato-led
force to
resolve.
"I believe
the single
thing that
we have done
wrong and we
are striving
extremely
hard to
improve on
is killing
innocent
civilians,"
Brig Richard
Nugee said.
President
Karzai has
been
scathing in
his
criticism
over the
deaths of
Afghan
civilians,
even
summoning
foreign
commanders
in May, 2007
to tell them
"that the
patience of
the Afghan
people is
wearing thin
with the
continued
killing of
innocent
civilians".
Two days
ago, the Red
Cross said
that at
least 250
Afghan
civilians
had been
killed or
wounded in
insurgent
attacks or
military
action in
the previous
six days. It
called on
all parties
to the
conflict to
avoid
civilian
casualties.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7501538.stm
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