The Afghanistan war has unfortunately produced many civilian casualties. Both the Taliban militants and the U.S.-led military are responsible. From my archives, here are excerpts of two news reports from 2006.
Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2006
U.S. Defends Air Strike on Village
by Wesal Zaman and Paul Watson
Los Angeles Times
KABUL — The U.S. military insisted Monday that air strikes on a southern village, which killed at least 16 Afghan civilians, were a legitimate attack on scores of Taliban militants.
In addition to the civilian deaths, as many as 80 members of Taliban militia were killed by the bombardment in the early morning darkness Monday in the village of Azizi, in the Pajwayi district of Kandahar province, a U.S. military statement said. Only 20 of the Taliban deaths were confirmed, the statement added, and five Taliban members were detained for interrogation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has complained for more than two years that U.S. air strikes that injure or kill civilians undermine his efforts at reconciliation. And after four years of war in southern and eastern Afghanistan, the insurgency is spreading.
After last fall’s largely peaceful parliamentary elections, Karzai said it was time for a change of tactics and called on U.S.-led forces to “concentrate on where terrorists are trained, on their bases, on the supplies to them, on the money coming to them.”
In response to questions about Monday’s bombing, Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said “coalition forces are aware of media reports of civilian casualties and are continuing to review assessments from ground elements in the region.”
… U.S.-led forces were pursuing Taliban fighters “suspected of terrorist and anti-Afghanistan activities,” the spokesman said. … Ground forces backed up by U.S. warplanes “engaged the extremists, who were firing on coalition troops and endangering innocent civilians,” he added.
Kandahar Governor Assadullah Khalid said the air strikes killed 16 civilians, including women and children, and injured 15 other noncombatants. But he blamed the Taliban.
The governor said Taliban militants had taken up positions in the villagers’ houses after fleeing an attack on their hideout, which other reports said was a village madrassa, or Islamic school.
“The Taliban used people’s houses as their trenches,” the governor said.
Ahmad Sha, a field coordinator for the Internationals Committee of the Red Cross in Kandahar’s main hospital, said several civilians were among the wounded.
“I saw women and children brought from Panjwayi district, which I don’t think are Taliban or al Qaeda,” he said… “Neither I, nor any Afghan, will feel good about this. The U.S. military must be careful with their actions.”
San Francisco Chronicle, 24 May 2006
Afghan Inquiry Set on U.S. Air Strike”
by Jason Straziuso
Associated Press
KABUL — President Hamid Karzai ordered an inquiry Tuesday into a U.S. bombing that killed at least 16 civilians, … and called for a meeting with the commander of American forces in Afghanistan.
It was the second time in five weeks that Karzai has complained about civilian deaths from air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition.
U.S. warplanes targeted the southern village overnight Sunday because Taliban fighers were hiding there, and dozens of the militants were killed. It was wone of the deadliest U.S. attacks since the American-led invasion in 2001.
Karzai expressed “concern at the coalition forces’ decision to bomb civilian areas” in the village of Azizi in Kandahar province, but he also strongly condemned the “terrorists’ act of cowardice” in using civilians as human shields.
Officials said 16 civilians died in the bombings of an Islamic school and mud-brick homes, and the U.S.-led coalition said at least 20 — and perhaps as many as 80 — militants were killed.
Karzai … will summon the commander of the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, for a “full explanation.”
Last month, Karzai complained about coalition attacks that killed seven civilians in eastern Kunar province. Karzai ordered an investigation and demanded that the coalition use restraint.
In September, Karzai challenged the need for major foreign military operations, saying air strikes no longer were effective. But that statement came before a resurgence of militant activity this spring as snow melted on the mountain passes used by fighters.
Militant supporters of the former Taliban regime have stepped up attacks, drawing a tough response from coalition and Afghan forces. The coalition air strike on Azizi was the third clash there in a week. As many as 27 militants were killed in a ground battle and air strike in the same area Thursday.
A U.S. military spokeswoman, Lt. Tamara Lawrence, said she could not comment on whether the military would change its tactics after the Azizi bombing.
A representative of Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group in New York, said the attack was “completely predictable and avoidable,” and he accused the Taliban of purposely endangering civilians.
“In southern Afghanistan, civilians are caught in the crossfire, and we expect it’s going to be a long and bloody summer,” said Sam Zarifi, head of the group’s Asia division. “Taliban insurgent forces who take shelter in a civilian area knowing that it’s going to draw hostile fire are violating international law. There is some evidence that was happening in this case.”
Zarifi also said the coalition should change its tactics to avoid civilian casualties. “This sometimes means no launching attacks in certain civilian-heavy areas and using the right weapons,” he said.
In 2004, the U.S. military said it modified its rules of engagement after Karzai expressed outrage over the deaths of 15 children in two air strikes in eastern Afghanistan. But officials refused to say how the rules had been changed, saying that would help militants.
The worst incident came in July 2002, when Afghan officials said 48 civilians were killed and 117 wounded in an air strike in Uruzgan province. The dead included 25 members of an extended family attending a wedding celebration.
