Thread: 9 Children killed in air strike stir fury in Afghanistan

Child air strike deaths stir fury in Afghanistan

Asadabad, Afghanistan (AFP) March 6, 2011


An Afghan protester shouts slogans during a demonstration following the killing of nine children by NATO troops in the province of Kunar, in Kabul on March 6, 2011. Hundreds of people poured on the streets of Afghanistan's capital to protest at the deaths of nine children killed in a NATO air raid on a remote rebel stronghold. The protesters chanted "Death to America -- death to the invaders" while marching through central Kabul. Photo courtesy AFP.

Karzai tells Petraeus Afghan apology 'not enough'

Kabul (AFP) March 6, 2011 - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday told US General David Petraeus, the commander of international troops, that his apology after nine children died in a NATO air strike was "not enough". Hundreds of angry demonstrators also rallied in central Kabul over the deaths in an air raid by coalition helicopters in the eastern province of Kunar on Tuesday. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the children -- who were collecting firewood in the province's Dar-e-Pech district when they were killed -- were mistaken for rebels. Petraeus and US President Barack Obama both apologised. The Western-backed Karzai, who has shaky relations with Washington, had already condemned the deaths, but on Sunday addressed Petraeus directly at a cabinet meeting at which the US general was present.

"President Karzai said that David Petraeus's apology is not enough," a statement from the Afghan presidency said. "The civilian casualties are a main cause of worsening the relationship between Afghanistan and the US," the statement quoted Karzai as saying. "The people are tired of these things and apologies and condemnations are not healing any pain. "On behalf of the people of Afghanistan I want you to stop the killings of civilians." The air strike that killed the children was against insurgents who had attacked a military post, but it hit the young victims by mistake, according to military officials.

Civilian casualties -- especially involving children -- are a highly sensitive issue in war-torn Afghanistan, where a Taliban-led insurgency has raged since the Islamists were ousted from power by a US-led 2001 invasion. Karzai says deaths of civilians in military operations turn people against his delicate pro-US administration. Civilian casualties have also been a key source of tension between Kabul and its Western backers, the US and NATO. A week before the children were killed, Karzai said troops had killed 65 non-combatants during operations in Kunar province's Ghaziabad district. That was followed by another incident in which Afghan authorities said troops killed six civilians in neighbouring Nangarhar province, also in an air raid.

About 500 people poured onto the streets of Kabul earlier on Sunday and chanted anti-American slogans over the deaths of the children. Marching through central Kabul they shouted "Death to America -- Death to the invaders." A placard carried by a veiled woman read: "Occupation = killing + destruction." "We don't want the invading forces," chanted one demonstrator carrying posters of the dead children. Another shouted: "Death to the government of President Hamid Karzai!" "When I saw the demonstration and realised it is against the Americans I joined," Azizullah, one of the protesters, who uses one name, told AFP. Also Sunday, a roadside bomb ripped through a car in eastern Afghanistan, killing 12 civilians. The Taliban-style home-made device struck the car in the province of Paktika, killing five children, two women and five men, the provincial administration said in a statement. The victims were on their way from neighbouring Pakistan, it said, without giving further details.
by Staff Writers

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Child_a ... n_999.html

Child air strike deaths stir fury in Afghanistan

by Staff Writers
Asadabad, Afghanistan (AFP) March 6, 2011

Two of Nasim's sons went into the hills to collect firewood last week to warm the family's humble home against the biting Afghan winter chill. They never returned, killed along with seven other children in a NATO air strike.

"The Americans are wild," said the boys' father, who uses only one name and whose sons were aged 11 and 12, crying as he spoke. "They don't value humanity and don't care about our children.

"The men who carried out the air strike and the ones who ordered it should be brought to court."

The nine killings outside Asadabad in Kunar province have unleashed public fury over civilian casualties at a crucial time for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The accidental deaths led the US troop commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, to issue a rare public apology, while US President Barack Obama also voiced "deep regret" to Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says those responsible could face disciplinary action.

But that may not be enough to stem growing Afghan anger at a time when the battle for hearts and minds is keener than ever, with foreign forces due to start handing over control of security to their Afghan counterparts in July.

The deaths in Kunar, a troubled northeastern province bordering Pakistan, happened on Tuesday as troops fought back after an insurgent rocket attack on their base.

Civilian casualties in foreign military operations targeting the Taliban and other fighters have long been an issue in Afghanistan.

Karzai has repeatedly issued angry condemnations of foreign forces over such deaths. Last week he went further still, warning them they would face "huge problems" if the "daily killing of innocent civilians" did not stop.

The United Nations' special representative for children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, also called for a "thorough review of procedures" to prevent the deaths of children in the Afghan war following the incident.

Protesting against the raid, about 500 people took to the streets in the capital Kabul on Sunday shouting "Death to America."

"We don't want the invading forces," chanted one demonstrator carrying posters of the dead children. Another shouted: "Death to the government of President Hamid Karzai."

Around 150 people protested in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar, on Wednesday.

ISAF says it does all it can to prevent civilian casualties during a counter-insurgency in which winning the hearts and minds of Afghans in poor, rural areas is seen as key by commanders.

A tactical directive issued by Petraeus shortly after he took up his job last year stipulates that commanders must establish that no civilians are close by before launching an attack.

"Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause," the directive says. "We must never forget that the center of gravity in this struggle is the Afghan people."

But for ordinary Afghans, the sensitivity of the issue is due partly to a perception that, for international forces, "Afghan people's blood is of no value," according to Kabul-based political analyst Waheed Mujda.

"For the Americans, apologising for a mistake is a very big deal but for Afghans it is not," he said. "ISAF troop actions that raise anger among Afghans are a major reason for people joining the insurgents or Taliban."

Afghan officials insist that when their forces take full charge of security across the country in 2014, such incidents will occur less frequently.

"Currently, the biggest problem in the war against terrorism for the Afghan government is civilian casualties," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi told AFP.

"Afghan troops are aware of the geography, the terrain, the people and are familiar with the operation areas. They know the enemy and will just engage the enemy, not civilians."

Human rights watchdog the Afghanistan Rights Monitor said last month that at least 217 civilians died in air strikes by international forces in 2010.

That comes against a backdrop of increasing civilian deaths overall in the Afghan war.

UN figures show the figure for the first ten months of 2010 rose 20 percent on the previous year, to 2,412.

But more than three-quarters of them were linked to insurgents, the UN said, while the numbers linked to international and Afghan government forces decreased by 18 percent.

The statistic is of no comfort to the families of Asadabad.

Subhan, who like Nasim had two sons killed in the attack and also only uses one name, said: "The Americans came over to my home and spoke to us, saying they apologise. But that is not acceptable for us."


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