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U.S. Raid Kills Nine Afghan Children
bhaloo
12/07/03 at 12:56:16
[slm]

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-12/07/article01.shtml

KABUL, December 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S. military in Afghanistan admitted Sunday, December 7, the killing of nine Afghan children in a U.S. air attack on southeast Afghanistan, regretting "the loss of any innocent life".

The raid was hunting a man believed to be responsible for recently killing two contractors working on the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat ring road, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported according to the U.S. army.

The U.S. military said the raid began at about 10:30 am (0600 GMT) Saturday, December 6, south of the town of Ghazni, 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the capital and killed the suspected man.

"Following the attack, coalition ground forces searching the area found the bodies of both the intended target and those of nine children nearby," the U.S. military said in a statement from the coalition's Bagram Air Base headquarters north of Kabul.

"Coalition forces acted after developing extensive intelligence over an extended period of time that determined the known terrorist was at the isolated rural site," the military said.

The statement said a commission is being set up to investigate the deaths, adding its forces "follow stringent rules of engagement to specifically avoid this type of incident while continuing to target terrorists".

Obligation


An Afghani looks at broken glass from a hotels after Kandahar blast

After the attack, the U.S. military faced mounting criticism, asserting that the protection of civilians is an "obligation" that any military organization must have.  

"The special representative and the United Nations family in Afghanistan have been profoundly distressed at the news that nine children were killed Saturday in Ghazni as a result of coalition military action," said U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva, reading a statement to reporters from U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

"This incident, which follows similar incidents, adds to a sense of insecurity and fear in the country," he said.

Washington has previously said it is not its policy to offer compensation to families of innocent victims killed in a "war zone".

"We are aware that caution is taken but these kinds of mistakes ... do have a negative impact among the population. We have seen this before so it's not as if were speaking without experience," de Almeida e Silva said.

Scores of civilians have been killed in U.S.-led bombing since the start of the campaign against the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Last month Afghan officials claimed eight civilians were killed in a U.S.-led bombing raid in northeast Afghanistan.

Eleven Afghan civilians were also killed on April 9 when their house was hit by a stray 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) laser-guided bomb in a U.S. bombing raid against suspected Taliban in the mountains of southeast Paktika province, which drew criticisms from rights watchdogs.

Kandahar Blast

Saturday's U.S. air raid came as at least 15 people were injured by a bomb blast in a crowded shopping area in Kandahar.

Kandahar security chief Salim Ehsas said one person had serious injuries but there were no fatalities.

The explosion at the Shahidan Chowk area destroyed shops and shattered windows in nearby stores and hotels.

"No foreigners were injured or killed," city police commander Mohammad Hashim told reporters.

Hashim blamed the attack on "the enemies of the government," referring to Taliban militants who continue to wage a bloody campaign in the south and east of Afghanistan two years after their ouster.

President Hamid Karzai said the blast was "a cowardly act aimed at terrorizing the people of Afghanistan" before the loya jirga [grand assembly] which is due to meet from Wednesday, December 10, to debate and approve the constitution.

Afghanistan unveiled last month a draft of its long-awaited constitution, confirming the Islamic identity of the country, enshrining the rule of democracy and paving the way for national elections in 2004.
12/07/03 at 12:56:35
bhaloo
Six More Afghan Children Killed in U.S. Attack
Aurora
12/10/03 at 21:21:49
Inna lillahi wa inna illahi raji un



Six More Afghan Children Killed in U.S. Attack
By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer
[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031210/ap_on_re_as/afghan_children_killed&cid=516&ncid=716](Source)[/url]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Six children were killed during an assault by U.S. forces on a compound in eastern Afghanistan (news - web sites), a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday, the second time in a week that civilians have died in action against Taliban and al-Qaida suspects.

The children died during an attack on Friday against a complex near the eastern city of Gardez where a renegade Afghan commander, Mullah Jalani, was believed to have stocked weapons, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty.

"The next day we discovered the bodies of two adults and six children under a collapsed," he said. "We had no indication there were noncombatants" in the compound.

Jalani was not at the site, 12 miles east of Gardez, but Hilferty said nine other people were arrested.

Hilferty said that U.S. warplanes and troops attacked the compound in a nighttime raid, setting off secondary explosions. The bodies were discovered the following day. They appeared to have been crushed by a falling wall, he said.

He expressed regret over the death of civilians in Afghanistan, but said it was impossible to completely eliminate such incidents.

"We try very hard not to kill anyone. We would prefer to capture the terrorists rather than kill them," Hilferty said. "But in this incident, if noncombatants surround themselves with thousands of weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and howitzers and mortars in a compound known to be used by a terrorist we are not completely responsible for the consequences."

Hilferty said he was not sure if the wall collapsed because of U.S. fire or the secondary explosions caused by weapons stored at the site. There was no word of U.S. casualties in the operation.

The news comes on the heels of a tragic U.S. military blunder in neighboring Ghazni province on Saturday. Nine children were found dead in a field after an attack by an A-10 ground attack aircraft that was targeting a Taliban suspect.

U.S. officials have apologized for that incident. They originally claimed that the attack killed the intended target, a former Taliban district commander named Mullah Wazir suspected of recent attacks on road workers. But U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on Tuesday said they were no longer certain.

Villagers say the man killed was a local laborer who had just returned from Iran and that Mullah Wazir had left the area days before the attack.

The Ghazni deaths produced outrage and concern, from Afghan villagers to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), who said he was "profoundly saddened" by the deaths and urged a full investigation. Afghan officials warned that such mistakes will undermine support for the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and tolerance of foreign troops.

"I can't guarantee that we will not injure more civilians," Hilferty said. "I wish I could."


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