16 civilians killed in US strike: governor
Posted by warvictims on July 7, 2008
By Agence France Presse
An Afghan provincial governor said Saturday 16 civilians including women, children and doctors were killed in US-led coalition air strikes but the force insisted the dead were militants.
The strikes were on Friday in the remote district of Waygal in the mountainous northeast province of Nuristan, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border with Pakistan.
Provincial governor Tamim Nuristani told AFP 16 civilians were killed as they were travelling out of the area after being told by security forces to leave ahead of an operation.
“The casualties were all civilians. They included two women, two children and workers and shopkeepers travelling in two pick-up vehicles,” Nuristani told AFP. Two doctors and a female nurse were also dead, he said.
“Altogether 16 people, all civilians, were killed,” he said. Seven other people — all men — were injured in the strike by attack helicopters, the governor said.
District governor Zia-ul-Rehman said Friday that 22 civilians had been killed in the strike.
The coalition said Friday and again Saturday that the dead were militants who had been attacking an NATO-led military base in the rugged area.
Troops on the ground observed “militants” escaping the scene after firing on the outpost, it said in a statement Saturday.
“The insurgents then entered two vehicles and began travelling away from the firing position. Ground forces called coalition attack helicopters for support.
“The helicopter crews coordinated with ground forces to positively identify the militants’ vehicles. The attack helicopters then destroyed the two vehicles, killing more than a dozen militants,” the statement said.
It said it had no official reports of “non-combatant” casualties.
“We are aware through media reports that there are allegations of civilian casualties. We are engaging with Afghan officials on this matter,” it said.
The seven-year internationally supported campaign to fight a bloody Taliban insurgency has seen several incidents in which civilians were killed, as well as claims of civilian casualties that have proven untrue.
The United Nations said last month that nearly 700 Afghan civilians had lost their lives in crossfire, nearly two-thirds of them in militant attacks and about 255 in military operations.
