 |
U.S.-led forces kill 76 Afghan civilians
Sharafuddin Sharafyar
Reuters
Friday, August 22, 2008
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – U.S.-led coalition forces killed 76 Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan on Friday, most of them children, the Interior Ministry said.
The coalition denied killing civilians. Civilian deaths in military operations have become an emotive issue among Afghans, many of whom feel international forces take too little care when launching air strikes, undermining support for their presence.
“Seventy-six civilians, most of them women and children, were martyred today in a coalition forces operation in Herat province,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Coalition forces bombarded the Azizabad area of Shindand district in Herat province on Friday afternoon, the ministry said. Nineteen of the victims were women, seven of them men and the rest children under the age of 15, it said.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
U.S.-led coalition forces denied killing any civilians. They said 30 militants had been killed in an air strike in Shindand district in the early hours of Friday and no further air strikes had been launched in the area later in the day.
Air strikes were called between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. after Afghan and coalition soldiers were ambushed by insurgents while on a patrol targeting a known Taliban commander in Herat, the U.S. military said in a statement.
“Insurgents engaged the soldiers from multiple points within the compound using small-arms and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire,” it said. “The joint forces responded with small-arms fire and an air strike killing 30 militants.”
TALIBAN COMMANDER TARGETED
Saeed Sharif, an elder and member of a local council where the strike took place, told Reuters many civilians were killed.
“Last night, around 2 a.m. some people were attending a holy Koran recitation in Shindand district when Americans started bombing. Tens of civilians were killed,” said Sharif.
A senior police commander in western Afghanistan confirmed the incident but could not say how many civilians died.
“More than 30 people have been killed. I cannot say how many of them are civilians,” General Ikramuddin Yawar told Reuters.
A spokesman for the Defence Ministry in Kabul said U.S. special forces and Afghan troops had been carrying out an operation against a commander named Mulla Sidiq, who was planning to attack a U.S. base in Herat.
Prison
Planet.tv Members Can Watch
Fall Of The Republic
Right Now Online -
Don't Miss Out! Get
Your Subscription Today!
CANCER CONSPIRACY? Are
"they" suppressing the cure? Will YOU
be the next victim? Learn
the Secret Truth! - READ FULL STORY
-
- Social bookmarks
- Email this article
-
- Print this page
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
It’s funny … well, I guess it’s more sorry state of affairs.. that whenever I read a statement by the U.S. government or military, my initial presumption is that I am being misled.
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Outrage
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:43 am
Americans love to kill civilians Bush all smiles at the Olimpics his military kiling We The Peoples
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:11 am
Dr. W…the Vietnam vet will tell you that being misled by the American government has been the case for many decades…what’s taken you so long to figure that out? Are you supporting them with your tax dollars? Look at your hands Dr. W, that red stuff is the blood of 600,000 children in Iraq and over a million Vietnamese and several hundred thousand central Americans…Laotians, Cambodians…need I continue? Why do you?
jonny…for a change you’ve said something that makes some sense…good boy!
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:44 am
attending church at 2 am for koran reading,,,,on thursday night? bulls---.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
responding to dirt(douche?)bag’s comment, yeah, 2am. because in some parts of the world the daytime weather is so hot that peoples daily activities are take place at night when it’s cooler.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Dirtybag, get and travel a little and stop listening to Fox news….try reading some too, it won’t hurt – honest. You demonstrate such a narrow bit of intelligence that you show yourself to be tyical of the Amerikkkan intellect, what there is of it. Also you show a murderous spirit…do you kill kids on you spare time or do you just give kid killers your tax money to do it for you? Now, how about formulating a answer for me? Would you please, you base human tird.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:52 am
http://www.onemorepromethean.c.....-kills-76/