Peace Pundit

Recently PeacePundit posted a chronology of the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that allegedly killed a large number of civilians. Afghan locals, Afghan government investigators, and United Nations investigators concluded that 90-95 civilians were killed, including 60 children. The US military claimed that mainly Taliban insurgents were killed, plus some civilians, but later reopened its investigation when presented with video images of many dead civilians.

There have been new developments in that story, so I updated the previous post. For readers’ convenience the new information is also included here:

Sep 15: The Associated Press reported that Afghan government investigators concluded that the August 22 airstrike: a) was based on false information that had been fed to the Americans by a rival tribe, and b) killed no Taliban fighters, only civilians. This conclusion was announced by a spokesman of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The spokesman also said that Afghan police had arrested three men alleged to have given the US military the false intelligence that led to the airstrike, but that their tribal head was not arrested because he was in “protective custody of US forces.” The spokesman said “… personal animosity led to trying to use the international forces for their own political disputes, which led to a disasterous event and caused a strain on the relationship of the Afghan government and international forces. Not a single Talib was killed. So it was a total disaster, and it made it even worse when there were denials, total denials.” The US military has declined to comment. Oddly, the US airstrike targeted Afghan employees of a British security firm and their families. [AP story]

Related Stories:

• Sep 9: Caught in the Cross-fire (NYT Editorial on Afghan Civilian Casualties). Civilians in Afghanistan are paying a deadly price in the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. America is fast losing the battle for hearts and minds, and unless the Pentagon comes up with a better strategy, the US and its allies may well lose the war. [Read editorial]
• Sep 16: UN says civilian deaths in Afghan war soaring; up 40 per cent so for in 2008. The United Nations says the number of Afghan civilians killed in insurgent attacks and air strikes by foreign troops has risen almost 40 per cent this year. The Taliban have been responsible for 55% of the 1,445 Afghan civilian deaths reported through the end of August, and U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces are responsible for the other 45%. The UN says 395 of the civilian deaths caused by pro-government forces – about 60 per cent – have occurred in U.S. and NATO air strikes. [Read story]
• Sep 17: Gates: US ‘must cut’ Afghan casualties. The US must do more to limit civilian casualties in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Gates said he regretted the loss of innocent lives and would discuss it with the US military. [Read story]