Afghan officials say Nato air strike killed nine civilians

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

Afghan officials have said an apparent Nato air strike has killed 15 people – nine of them civilians, including women and children – in an eastern province where the Taliban remain strong. Nato said 10 militants had died in the strike, and that it had no reports of any civilian deaths.

Civilian deaths in Nato operations have long been a sore point between the Afghan government and the US-led troops in the country, and they have been a major factor in the animosity many Afghans feel towards foreign forces. Conflicting accounts of who or how many died also are common, especially when remote, dangerous regions are involved and access by independent observers is restricted.

The latest disputed air strike occurred in the Watapur district of Kunar province, which lies near the border with Pakistan. It is a militant stronghold, and many Arab and other foreign insurgents are believed to operate there alongside the Afghan Taliban. Some are suspected of links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The Kunar province police chief Abdul Habib Sayed Khaili said the air strike had hit a pickup truck carrying the women and children in Qoro village soon after three Arab and three Afghan militants boarded it on Saturday evening. He said some reports had called it a drone strike, but that Afghan officials had been unable to confirm that. Of the 15 dead, four were women, four were children and one was the driver, the police official said.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/08/afghan-nato-air-strike-civilians

[bread_and_roses]

1. Hey - NP - it wasn't chemical weapon

... and besides, it was US - and we're special and exceptional. It's OK when we kill babies.

[marble falls]

2. But at least its not war, just some bombing and stuff.

[Harmony Blue]

3. I was told that we were done in Afghanistan

but all the people I know serving still in Afghanistan are telling me otherwise. What a quandry...do I trust those that say the war is over or those over their still fighting?

[L0oniX]

4. Russia says the US has crossed it's "red line".

[daleo]

5. Military action by the U.S. will have the same result

Who knows how many? But they won't count, since we won't count them.

[avaistheone1]

6. No biggie. The folks are just bomb dead, not chemical weapon dead.

We need to give ourselves a pat on the back for our mercy and compassion.

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. USA even bombed some of our Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

.
.
.

But at least it wasn't chemical weapons.

So it's ok I guess.

CC