AFGHANISTAN: Afghan girl killed by British leaflet drop

Reuters

By MICHAEL HOLDEN

LONDON (Reuters) – An Afghan girl died after a box of information leaflets — dropped by a British military plane and intended to help the local population — landed on top of her, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.

The MoD said it had launched an investigation into the incident which occurred three months ago in a rural area of Helmand in southern Afghanistan where British troops are battling Taliban insurgents.

Civilian casualties have become an extremely sensitive issue in Afghanistan, with U.S. commander General Stanley McChyrstal warning that protecting civilians from U.S. and NATO air strikes is essential to getting the upper hand in the conflict.

AFGHANISTAN: Canadian forces fire on speeding motorcycle, two Afghans dead

The Canadian Press

By BILL GRAVELAND

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian troops in the dangerous Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city fired on a speeding motorcycle Thursday evening, killing an apparently unarmed driver and his passenger.

The incident occurred while a shura, or community meeting, was being held near a mosque in the village of Pay-e-Moluk.

Maj. Vance White, senior public affairs officer for Canada’s Task Force Kandahar, said Friday that a motorcycle carrying two “fighting-aged males” rapidly advanced and “showed intent to penetrate the security cordon.”

“Verbal and visual warnings were used and one aimed warning shot was fired close to the motorcycle to alert the driver to stop,” he said.

“The driver did not heed the warnings. In fact he accelerated, demonstrating known insurgent protocols. Soldiers then fired shots in order to stop the motorcycle.”

The two men sustained gunshot wounds and were immediately taken to the nearby Forward Operating Base at Sperwan Ghar and received treatment. But they died of their wounds about 40 minutes later.

UN: 1,500 Afghan civilians dead in 8 months

Press TV September 27, 2009

A United Nations report has noted that a total of 1,500 civilians have lost their lives in insurgency-hit Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to August.

The UN said in a new report that NATO air strikes were to blame for about a quarter of civilian deaths across the war-ravaged country over the past months.

AFGHANISTAN: Airstrike Kills Eight in Afghanistan

New York Times

By TAIMOOR SHAH and SABRINA TAVERNISE

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan tribal elders said eight people were killed in an airstrike in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, at least five of them civilians.

An American military spokeswoman, Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, confirmed the airstrike, in the Nad Ali district of the troubled province of Helmand, but declined to estimate the number of casualties before a review of the area.

The strike killed a farmer and his family in the village of Khushal, according to Haji Talib, a district council member from the area. Three of the family’s guests were also killed, he said, but he did not know their identities.

US: McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’ Top U.S. Commander For Afghan War Calls Next 12 Months Decisive

By Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 21, 2009

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure,” according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.

To read the rest of the entry: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092002920.html