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US Airstrikes: 112 Afghans killed in Nuristan
112 killed in Nuristan airstrike: governor
Up to 40 people, including district's administrative head and police chief, were wounded
By Abdul Moeed Hashmi
PAN, May 26, 2011: NATO-led troops shot dead three civilians in central Maidan Wardak province, an Afghan official said on Thursday. Resident Ghulam Sakhi Rasuli said the men were working on their farms, and had no any link to any militant organisation.
As many as 112 people were killed in an airstrike by NATO-led troops in the remote eastern province of Nuristan, a senior official said on Saturday.
Twenty-two policemen, 20, civilians and 70 Taliban fighters were among the dead, Governor Jamaluddin Badr told Pajhwok Afghan News, quoting a probe into the incidents.
Foreign soldiers conducted the air raid on Thursday to drive insurgents from Doab district, he said, adding Afghan forces recaptured the town late on Thursday night.
Up to 40 people, including district's administrative head and police chief, were wounded, Badr added. Both officials were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment.
Despite efforts, the ministries of defence and interior could not be reached for comments on civilian and police casualties.
Interior ministry spokesman Zmaray Bashari said that since Doab was a remote district, where walkie-talkies did not work, they could not contact local officials for information on the incident.
He added a team had been dispatched to the district to collect information about the fatalities. NATO-led soldiers have confirmed the airstrike, but denied civilian casualties.
Airstrike kills civilians in Wardak: witnesses
Arif said the victims were local civilians and that the death toll could increase
By Mirwais Himmat
At least five civilians were killed and nine others wounded in a NATO airstrike in the Syedabad district of central Maidan Wardak province on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The air raid was carried out in Salar village of the district in the afternoon, Haji Arif, the owner of a private security firm, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said five dead bodies had so far been retrieved from beneath the rubble. Another nine people were injured in the strike, he said.
Arif said the victims were local civilians and that the death toll could increase.
A witness, who was injured in the attack, said the attack happened all of a sudden.
Provincial Public Health Director, Dr. Ismail Ibrahimi, confirmed receiving five dead bodies and nine injured people at the civil hospital. He said two of the injured are in a critical condition.
The governor's spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said only two security guards of a private firm had been killed in the airstrike. He rejected reports that civilians had been killed.
Read more: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2011...#ixzz1VCnkkW9f
Eight Afghan civilians killed” in air strike
"Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. As a result the imam, his wife and six of their children were killed."
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan civilians may have been caught up in a NATO air strike against suspected Taliban insurgents, a foreign military spokesman said Saturday, amid claims up to eight civilians died.
A local official said that an imam, his wife and their six children were killed by an air strike in Nad Ali district in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Friday.
The incident appears to be the latest in which Afghan civilians have been accidentally killed by NATO military operations. The issue is highly sensitive in Afghanistan after nearly ten years of war.
Explaining what happened, district governor Shadi Khan said: "A group of Taliban attacked a foot patrol of NATO forces.
"Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. As a result the imam, his wife and six of their children were killed."
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said foreign troops had been to discuss the incident with local elders.
"A coalition patrol was attacked by insurgents armed with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and small arms fire in Nad Ali district," the spokesman said.
"The coalition forces responded with small arms fire and they continued with an air strike against the positions of insurgents.
"Shortly after the engagement, ISAF learned that civilians had been held captive by insurgents and may have been present during the strike."
Helmand provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said he was "aware that there have been some civilian casualties as a result of a NATO air strike in Nad Ali district" and that an official delegation had been dispatched to investigate.
ISAF insists it takes all measures possible to limit the number of civilian casualties in its operations in Afghanistan.
But the issue has in the past provoked angry protests and in March, President Hamid Karzai appeared to say that foreign troops should stop all operations in Afghanistan because of the issue.
Up to 40 people, including district's administrative head and police chief, were wounded
By Abdul Moeed Hashmi
PAN, May 26, 2011: NATO-led troops shot dead three civilians in central Maidan Wardak province, an Afghan official said on Thursday. Resident Ghulam Sakhi Rasuli said the men were working on their farms, and had no any link to any militant organisation.
As many as 112 people were killed in an airstrike by NATO-led troops in the remote eastern province of Nuristan, a senior official said on Saturday.
Twenty-two policemen, 20, civilians and 70 Taliban fighters were among the dead, Governor Jamaluddin Badr told Pajhwok Afghan News, quoting a probe into the incidents.
Foreign soldiers conducted the air raid on Thursday to drive insurgents from Doab district, he said, adding Afghan forces recaptured the town late on Thursday night.
Up to 40 people, including district's administrative head and police chief, were wounded, Badr added. Both officials were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment.
Despite efforts, the ministries of defence and interior could not be reached for comments on civilian and police casualties.
Interior ministry spokesman Zmaray Bashari said that since Doab was a remote district, where walkie-talkies did not work, they could not contact local officials for information on the incident.
He added a team had been dispatched to the district to collect information about the fatalities. NATO-led soldiers have confirmed the airstrike, but denied civilian casualties.
Airstrike kills civilians in Wardak: witnesses
Arif said the victims were local civilians and that the death toll could increase
By Mirwais Himmat
At least five civilians were killed and nine others wounded in a NATO airstrike in the Syedabad district of central Maidan Wardak province on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The air raid was carried out in Salar village of the district in the afternoon, Haji Arif, the owner of a private security firm, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said five dead bodies had so far been retrieved from beneath the rubble. Another nine people were injured in the strike, he said.
Arif said the victims were local civilians and that the death toll could increase.
A witness, who was injured in the attack, said the attack happened all of a sudden.
Provincial Public Health Director, Dr. Ismail Ibrahimi, confirmed receiving five dead bodies and nine injured people at the civil hospital. He said two of the injured are in a critical condition.
The governor's spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said only two security guards of a private firm had been killed in the airstrike. He rejected reports that civilians had been killed.
Read more: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2011...#ixzz1VCnkkW9f
Eight Afghan civilians killed” in air strike
"Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. As a result the imam, his wife and six of their children were killed."
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan civilians may have been caught up in a NATO air strike against suspected Taliban insurgents, a foreign military spokesman said Saturday, amid claims up to eight civilians died.
A local official said that an imam, his wife and their six children were killed by an air strike in Nad Ali district in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Friday.
The incident appears to be the latest in which Afghan civilians have been accidentally killed by NATO military operations. The issue is highly sensitive in Afghanistan after nearly ten years of war.
Explaining what happened, district governor Shadi Khan said: "A group of Taliban attacked a foot patrol of NATO forces.
"Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. As a result the imam, his wife and six of their children were killed."
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said foreign troops had been to discuss the incident with local elders.
"A coalition patrol was attacked by insurgents armed with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and small arms fire in Nad Ali district," the spokesman said.
"The coalition forces responded with small arms fire and they continued with an air strike against the positions of insurgents.
"Shortly after the engagement, ISAF learned that civilians had been held captive by insurgents and may have been present during the strike."
Helmand provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said he was "aware that there have been some civilian casualties as a result of a NATO air strike in Nad Ali district" and that an official delegation had been dispatched to investigate.
ISAF insists it takes all measures possible to limit the number of civilian casualties in its operations in Afghanistan.
But the issue has in the past provoked angry protests and in March, President Hamid Karzai appeared to say that foreign troops should stop all operations in Afghanistan because of the issue.
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