NATO strikes blamed for 25 civilian deaths
NATO forces said Friday that they were investigating reports that 25 Afghan civilians were killed in overnight airstrikes in southern Afghanistan.
The mounting civilian toll in Afghanistan is dangerously eroding public support for the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
After the latest report of deaths, Karzai told the BBC that accidental killings and injuries of civilians at the hands of coalition forces were “difficult for us to accept or understand.”
The Afghan leader has repeatedly appealed to international forces to exercise greater caution during clashes in civilian areas. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has blamed the Taliban for using civilians as shields.
It was the second report this week of multiple civilian deaths in airstrikes aimed at insurgents. On Sunday, seven children ages 10 to 15 were killed when U.S. forces bombed a compound that they said militants were using as a hide-out.
The latest incident occurred in Helmand province, in the former Taliban heartland, which has recently been the scene of heavy fighting between NATO forces and insurgents.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that Western and Afghan troops were attacked Thursday night by Taliban fighters about 10 miles northeast of the town of Gereshk. In response, NATO forces called in an airstrike on a compound where about 30 insurgents were thought to be hiding.
“We are concerned about reports that some civilians may have lost their lives during this attack,” said Lt. Col. Mike Smith, a NATO spokesman. “However, it must be noted that it was the insurgents who initiated this attack.... The risk to civilians was probably deliberate.”
The provincial police chief, Hussein Andiwal, told the Associated Press that 25 civilians, including three babies, were among about 45 people killed in two residential compounds. About 20 of the dead were militants, he said.
Counts of civilian deaths in Western military operations vary. A consortium of aid groups last week put the toll this year at 230. Other independent estimates are in the range of about 175, including the latest reported casualties.
About the same number of noncombatants are thought to have died this year in attacks by insurgents, including suicide bombings, which are generally aimed at Western and Afghan forces but often kill bystanders.
About 28,000 U.S. troops are serving in Afghanistan, along with 20,000 troops from other NATO countries. Most instances of large-scale civilian fatalities have involved U.S. forces.
Senior U.S. commanders apologized after an incident in March in which U.S. troops fired on civilians on a busy highway near the eastern city of Jalalabad after their convoy came under attack. At least 19 people were killed. Afghan officials and human rights groups said the soldiers had fired indiscriminately at civilian vehicles and passersby.
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Special correspondent Faiez reported from Kabul and Times staff writer King from Istanbul, Turkey.
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