A rocket attack on an Afghan village has killed at least 45 civilians
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CENTRO ANTI-BLASFEMIA
Jul 27, 2010, 1:00:56 PM7/27/10
to ANTI-BLASPHEMY CENTRAL
Published on Monday, July 26, 2010 by Al Jazeera English
'Scores Die in Afghan Village Raid'
by Al Jazeera English
A rocket attack on an Afghan village has killed at least 45 civilians,
including women and children, a spokesman for Afghan president Hamid
Karzai said.
A US soldier frisks an Afghan villager during a patrol in Dand
district of Kandahar Province. A rocket attack on an Afghan village
killed up to 45 civilians, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told
AFP on Monday, as leaked documents laid bare the civilian toll of the
US-led war.(AFP/Manpreet Romana) An investigation is underway to
determine who was responsible for the reported attack in Sangin
district of southern province Helmand on Friday.
"Our understanding is yes, there was a rocket launched. Yes, it hit a
civilian house where many people sought refuge and yes there were
around 45 to 50 people killed," Waheed Omar said.
Asked if the attack was carried out by NATO forces, Omar said: "We
will need to wait until we have a final report before we have the
source as to what happened and who did it."
Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the
incident, Sediq Sediqqi, head of media relations at the presidency,
said earlier.
Helicopter attack
Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on
villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a
firefight with troops from NATO's International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) was imminent.
According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey
village and were fired on from helicopter gunships as they took cover.
Abdul Ghafar, 45, told the French press agency, AFP, that he lost "two
daughters and one son and two sisters" in the attack.
He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 meters from their
village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about the imminent battle, he
said.
Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an
expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops.
"Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone
inside," he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city.
"We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and
around 40 to 50 others killed," he said.
He took three girls and four boys to the Kandahar hospital, he said,
adding: "Three of the wounded are my nephews and one is my son.
"One of the wounded children is four years old and has lost both
parents."
The BBC said it sent an Afghan reporter to Regey to interview
residents, who described the attack and said they buried 39 people.
Civilian casualties are an incendiary topic in Afghanistan, though
surveys have shown that most are caused by Taliban attacks.
ISAF spokesman Colonel Wayne Shanks said the location of the reported
deaths was "several kilometers away from where we had engaged enemy
fighters".
ISAF forces had fought a battle with insurgents, he said, but an
investigation team dispatched after the casualty reports emerged "had
accounted for all the rounds that were shot at the enemy", Shanks
said.
"We found no evidence of civilian casualties," he said.
Wikileaks
But leaked documents carried by the web whistleblower Wikileaks on
Sunday pointed to under-reporting of civilian casualties, which Omar
said were a cause of concern for the Afghan government.
The Pentagon files and field reports spanning the period from January
2004 to December 2009 detail hundreds of unreported civilian deaths
caused by NATO and Taliban attacks.
"We have continuously stated that the Afghan government and Afghan
people were upset about civilian casualties," he told reporters,
adding that Karzai had found nothing new in the leaked documents.
The White House condemned the leaks, saying the information could
endanger US lives but also pointed to the administration's long-held
concerns about alleged links between Pakistani intelligence agents and
Afghan insurgents.
Source: Agencies
© 2010 Aljazeera.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/26-3
'Scores Die in Afghan Village Raid'
by Al Jazeera English
A rocket attack on an Afghan village has killed at least 45 civilians,
including women and children, a spokesman for Afghan president Hamid
Karzai said.
A US soldier frisks an Afghan villager during a patrol in Dand
district of Kandahar Province. A rocket attack on an Afghan village
killed up to 45 civilians, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told
AFP on Monday, as leaked documents laid bare the civilian toll of the
US-led war.(AFP/Manpreet Romana) An investigation is underway to
determine who was responsible for the reported attack in Sangin
district of southern province Helmand on Friday.
"Our understanding is yes, there was a rocket launched. Yes, it hit a
civilian house where many people sought refuge and yes there were
around 45 to 50 people killed," Waheed Omar said.
Asked if the attack was carried out by NATO forces, Omar said: "We
will need to wait until we have a final report before we have the
source as to what happened and who did it."
Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the
incident, Sediq Sediqqi, head of media relations at the presidency,
said earlier.
Helicopter attack
Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on
villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a
firefight with troops from NATO's International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) was imminent.
According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey
village and were fired on from helicopter gunships as they took cover.
Abdul Ghafar, 45, told the French press agency, AFP, that he lost "two
daughters and one son and two sisters" in the attack.
He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 meters from their
village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about the imminent battle, he
said.
Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an
expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops.
"Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone
inside," he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city.
"We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and
around 40 to 50 others killed," he said.
He took three girls and four boys to the Kandahar hospital, he said,
adding: "Three of the wounded are my nephews and one is my son.
"One of the wounded children is four years old and has lost both
parents."
The BBC said it sent an Afghan reporter to Regey to interview
residents, who described the attack and said they buried 39 people.
Civilian casualties are an incendiary topic in Afghanistan, though
surveys have shown that most are caused by Taliban attacks.
ISAF spokesman Colonel Wayne Shanks said the location of the reported
deaths was "several kilometers away from where we had engaged enemy
fighters".
ISAF forces had fought a battle with insurgents, he said, but an
investigation team dispatched after the casualty reports emerged "had
accounted for all the rounds that were shot at the enemy", Shanks
said.
"We found no evidence of civilian casualties," he said.
Wikileaks
But leaked documents carried by the web whistleblower Wikileaks on
Sunday pointed to under-reporting of civilian casualties, which Omar
said were a cause of concern for the Afghan government.
The Pentagon files and field reports spanning the period from January
2004 to December 2009 detail hundreds of unreported civilian deaths
caused by NATO and Taliban attacks.
"We have continuously stated that the Afghan government and Afghan
people were upset about civilian casualties," he told reporters,
adding that Karzai had found nothing new in the leaked documents.
The White House condemned the leaks, saying the information could
endanger US lives but also pointed to the administration's long-held
concerns about alleged links between Pakistani intelligence agents and
Afghan insurgents.
Source: Agencies
© 2010 Aljazeera.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/26-3
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