NATO investigates possible civilian casualties in northeast Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

NATO investigates possible civilian casualties in northeast Afghanistan

2010-11-19 21:45:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Friday said it is investigating claims that coalition forces have accidentally killed three Afghan civilians in the country's northeast.

The alliance said a joint Afghan-ISAF investigation is underway after coalition forces fired mortar rounds in response to insurgent attacks near the village of Tantil in the Darah-ye Pech district of Kunar province on Friday.

The alliance said that three or four rounds landed in the village, after which claims were made that three civilians had been killed and four others had been wounded. "However, we are still looking into the allegations," an ISAF spokesperson said. "We haven't found evidence of casualties at this point."

"We take civilian casualty allegations seriously and we do everything within our power to prevent civilian casualties in the course of operations," said U.S. Army Colonel Rafael Torres, ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director.

Other details about the alleged casualties were not immediately available.

In August, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its 2010 Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. It revealed that the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by approximately 31 percent in the first semester of 2010.

However, the Taliban and other insurgent groups remain the main causes of these casualties. "Afghan children and women are increasingly bearing the brunt of this conflict. They are being killed and injured in their homes and communities in greater numbers than ever before," said Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

From January 1 to June 30, UNAMA registered a total of 3,268 civilian casualties, including 1,271 deaths and 1,997 injuries. From this number, insurgents were responsible for 2,477 casualties (76 percent of all casualties, 53 percent more than in 2009) while 386 were attributed to pro-government forces such as NATO. It accounted for 12 percent of all casualties, which is 30 percent less than in 2009.

UNAMA said that the increase in the number of casualties is attributed to the use of a greater number of larger and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the number of civilians assassinated and executed by anti-government forces (which included public executions of children).

"The devastating human impact of these events underscores that, nine years into the conflict, measures to protect Afghan civilians effectively and to minimize the impact of the conflict on basic human rights are more urgent than ever. All those concerned must do more to protect civilians and comply with their legal obligations not to attack civilians,†said Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for UNAMA.

IEDs and suicide attacks by insurgents killed 557 Afghans and injured 1,137 in the first six months of 2010. On the other hand, aerial attacks by ISAF remained the most harmful pro-government tactic, causing 69 of the 223 civilian deaths attributed to pro-government forces in the period.

The southern region witnessed more than half of assassinations and executions in Afghanistan, where more than one hundred Afghan civilians were killed in such incidents. These civilians killed included teachers, nurses, doctors, tribal elders, community leaders, provincial and district officials, other civilians including children, and civilians working for international military forces and international organizations.

UNAMA recommended insurgents in its report to stop the use of IEDs as these cause a great number of fatalities. The agency also suggested the Afghan Government to create a public body to lead its response to major civilian casualty incidents and its interaction with international military forces.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-19

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in response to insurgent attacks

If you watch the long version of 'Collateral murder', not the short one on Huffington Post, it will make you wonder IF there was really an 'attack' Bing it!

You will see they lie thru them their teeth.