NATO strike kills 27 Afghan civilians

[Enoch]

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8527627.stm

Page last updated at 14:19 GMT, Monday, 22 February 2010

NATO strike kills 27 Afghanistan civilians

At least 27 civilians died in a Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan cabinet says, revising downwards a prior statement that 33 were killed.



Nato said it hit a suspected insurgent convoy, but ground forces later found "a number of individuals killed and wounded", including women and children.

Sunday's attack, in Uruzgan province, was not part of a major Nato-led push in neighbouring Helmand province.

Civilian deaths in strikes have caused widespread resentment in Afghanistan.

Last year, Gen Stanley McChrystal, the Nato and US commander in Afghanistan, introduced much tougher rules of engagement in a bid to minimise such casualties.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says three vehicles on a road were hit by the strike on Sunday morning.

A Nato statement said it was thought the convoy contained Taliban insurgents on their way to attack Afghan and foreign military forces.

But the governor of Uruzgan province told the BBC all of the dead were civilians. He said the air strike took place in an area which is under Taliban control.

One of his spokesmen, Nisar Ahmad Khetab, said more than 40 people had been travelling in three vehicles when they were attacked.

He told the BBC Pashto service a delegation of elders had been sent to the area to investigate the deaths.

The Afghan government condemned the air strike, calling it "unjustifiable" and "a major obstacle" to effective counter-terrorism efforts.

In a revised statement, putting the death toll at 27, the Afghan cabinet said four women and one child were among those killed.

The cabinet also called on Nato "to closely co-ordinate and exercise maximum care before conducting any military operation so that any possible mistakes that may result in harming civilians... can be avoided".

Government collapse

Uruzgan province is where the Dutch mission to Afghanistan has been based since 2006, with nearly 2,000 service personnel.



Over the weekend, the Dutch government collapsed over disagreements in the governing coalition on extending deployments in Afghanistan beyond August this year.

Gen McChrystal has apologised to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation into the latest deaths.

The Nato commander said in a statement: "We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives.

"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission.

"We will redouble our efforts to regain that trust."

Our correspondent says the strike was not linked to the Nato-led Operation Moshtarak which is continuing in Helmand province, to the south of Uruzgan.

Last week, 12 civilians died in that offensive - whose name means "together" in Dari - when ground-launched rockets hit a home.

About 15,000 Nato and Afghan troops are involved in Moshtarak, now in its second week, and the largest operation since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001.

The head of US Central Command, Gen David Petraeus, said on Sunday the operation, part of a revised strategy for combating insurgents, would probably last up to 18 months.


DEADLIEST AFGHAN AIR STRIKES

Sep 2009: Up to 140 civilians die in Kunduz province

May 2009: At least 26 civilians die in strikes in Farah province

Aug 2008: Ninety people killed in Herat province, UN says

July 2008: Raid in Nangarhar kills up to 47 civilians at wedding party

[Enoch]

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/22/afghanistan.civilian.strike/index.html?hpt=T2

Dozens of civilians die in NATO airstrike in Afghanistan

February 22, 2010 9:02 a.m. EST

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A NATO air strike on a convoy in southern Afghanistan killed more than two dozen civilians, officials said Monday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office placed the death toll at 33 from Sunday's incident in central Daikondi province, including four women and a child. The interior ministry said 27 civilians were killed and 14 others wounded.

"We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives," said the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who spoke to Karzai Sunday evening and expressed his regret.

A convoy of three vehicles was traveling to Kandahar province when it was struck, said Zemeri Bashary, the spokesman for the interior ministry.

He had earlier said the attack occurred in Uruzgan province. Daikondi was carved from the larger Uruzgan province and neighbors it.

NATO confirmed its forces fired on the vehicles, believing that they were carrying insurgents.

When ground troops arrived, they found women and children in the cars, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The military did not say how many people were killed in the attack.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it has ordered an immediate investigation.

"We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives," said the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who spoke to President Hamid Karzai Sunday evening and expressed his regret.

"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will re-double our efforts to regain that trust."

The Afghan cabinet called the attack "unjustifiable."

"The council of ministers strongly condemns the repeated killing of civilians by NATO," the ministers said in the Pashtun and Dari version of a statement.

The English version of the same statement did not include that sentence.

Civilian casualties at the hands of U.S. and NATO troops have strained relationship between Afghanistan and the United States.

The numbers have fallen off in recent months since McChrystal took over as U.S. commander.

Elsewhere, an insurgent rocket struck a car in Kapisa province Monday and killed one civilian, officials said. Five others were wounded in the attack.

Earlier, Afghan officials had blamed the attack on a NATO ground-to-ground missile but later corrected the account.