NATO Apologizes for Killing Unarmed Afghans in Car

[laststeamtrain]

Source: NYT

NATO Apologizes for Killing Unarmed Afghans in Car
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO apologized Wednesday for shooting to death four unarmed Afghan civilians this week in Khost Province and acknowledged that it had wrongly described two of the victims as “known insurgents.”

The shootings on Monday evening were the latest occasion in which Afghan civilians had been killed by military convoys at NATO or American checkpoints, or in bungled Special Operations raids.

The spate of civilian deaths has infuriated Afghan leaders and undermined the West’s war plan just as it is about to enter its most crucial phase — a planned summer offensive in Kandahar.

<snip>

“People hate the international forces,” said Bakhtialy, a tribal elder in Kandahar who, like many Afghans, goes by one name.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/world/asia/22afghan.html

---

Earlier report:

Dispute Flares After NATO Convoy Kills 4 in Afghanistan
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SHARIFULLAH SAHAK

KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO military convoy in eastern Afghanistan shot to death four unarmed civilians in a vehicle early Monday evening, including a police officer and a 12-year-old student, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The killings in Khost Province, near the border with Pakistan, led to a dispute almost immediately between local Afghan leaders and NATO officials. Deaths of civilians from shootings by NATO forces near convoys and at checkpoints have emerged as a particular flash point with the Afghan public and government.

“The civilians’ vehicle was driving on the road when the coalition forces opened fire on them,” said the governor of Gurbuz District, Mohammad Akbar Zadran. “There was a 12-year-old schoolboy among the dead, and a police officer named Maiwand who was also killed.”

Without offering proof, NATO described the dead as two insurgents and their “associates.” In a statement on Tuesday, NATO said the vehicle ignored warning shots and accelerated toward the military convoy. But the statement did not challenge the Afghan account that no weapons were found in the vehicle. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/world/asia/21khost.html

[pampango]

1. Doesn't bring them back. All sides should do this when civilians are killed. n/t

[YankmeCrankme]

3. when you keep having to apologize for killing unarmed civilians it tends to lose its meaning. nt

[pampango]

7. As does intentionally killing civilians. n/t

[Robb]

9. Agreed.

[laststeamtrain]

2. Stars and Stripes: Continuing civilian toll in Afghanistan poses dilemma for U.S.

Continuing civilian toll in Afghanistan poses dilemma for U.S.
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, April 22, 2010

WASHINGTON — Taliban fighters in Afghanistan killed nearly three times more civilians than U.S. and NATO forces last year. But, in a war of perceptions, it’s the International Security Assistance Force that’s scrambling to prove it’s doing everything possible not to kill innocent bystanders.

On Wednesday, NATO forces acknowledged that they gunned down four civilians whose car traveled too close to a military patrol in Khost province, further inflaming tensions in the country. The incident came a week after U.S. soldiers fired on a civilian commuter bus outside Kandahar, killing four Afghan civilians and wounding 18 others, triggering a wave of anti-American protests throughout Afghanistan’s major cities.

The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan called the bus incident part of a “disturbing trend” of civilian casualties during recent international military operations. On April 6, four civilians were killed in a firefight between insurgents and NATO forces. And in February, a night raid on a family compound outside Gardez by U.S. Special Forces resulted in the deaths of five civilians, including two pregnant women,a teenage girl, a local police chief and his brother.

“All efforts must be undertaken to ensure is reversed,” said Staffan de Mistura, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

Still more controversy about civilian deaths in Afghanistan is looming. Wikileaks, a whistleblower Web site that posts sensitive government and corporate documents, is promising to soon release a video of the controversial bombing last May of a compound in Farah province, where U.S. officials acknowledge 30 civilians were killed but U.N. officials have estimated more than 90 civilian deaths. ... http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69505

[Solly Mack]

4. Damn

K/R

[Soylent Brice]

5. 12 years old.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. So the US Military is in charge of operations & NATO is in charge of apologies?

I see how this works

[Robb]

8. No, you don't.

Maj. Gen. Mike Regner made the apology yesterday. You might've noticed he's a US Marine.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. So if Regner apologized yesterday, why is NATO doing it today?

It comes across as if NATO has authority/responsibility for the American forces.

[Robb]

12. It comes across as if NATO has authority/responsibility for the American forces

Because it does. This may help: http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/our-mission/

Edited to add this too: http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/isaf-mandate.html

[tomm2thumbs]

14. they seem to have distinctions

According to the article below, there are 62,000 U.S. troops, 40,500 non-U.S. NATO forces and nearly 74,000 private military contractors in Afghanistan

so I am guessing that they only have authority/responsibility over the 62,000, not the 114,500 'other' troops


LINK:
http://www.american-reporter.com/3,924/153.html
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/04/gns_afghanistan_contractors_042210/

[tomm2thumbs]

13. so then

does he speak for the activities carried out by non-NATO contracted paramilitary operators? Blackwater and the like?

[Bragi]

11. Who will apologize for the planned summer bloodbath?

The planned summer bloodbath is a U.S operation, so maybe they should get out front on this and apologize beforehand. NATO could then apologize after the fact.