NATO admits it accidentally killed three civilians in northeast Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

NATO admits it accidentally killed three civilians in northeast Afghanistan

2010-11-21 01:08:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Saturday admitted that its coalition forces were responsible for the deaths of at least three civilians in northeast Afghanistan.

The incident happened on Friday when coalition forces fired mortar rounds in response to insurgent attacks near the village of Tantil in the Darah-ye Pech district of Kunar province.

The alliance said that three or four rounds landed in the village, killing at least three civilians and injuring four others. Few other details were released by ISAF.

"We take civilian casualties seriously and we do everything within our power to prevent civilian casualties in the course of operations - in this case, we failed," said U.S. Army Colonel Rafael Torres, director of the ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center. "Our thoughts and concerns are with the families of this tragic accident."

But locals said a fourth person was also killed in the incident. According to provincial police chief Brigadier General Khalilullah Ziayee, speaking to the Pajhwok Afghan news agency, a police officer and his three nephews - all children - were killed in the accident.

Ziayee told the news agency that coalition troops had targeted the bunkers of insurgents, but that several rounds fell short of its target. As a result, Ziayee said, four people were killed when one of the rounds exploded near the home of a local police officer. Four other children were injured.

ISAF did not immediately comment on the claims of a fourth casualty and was unable to confirm if any children were among the casualties. "Our reporting does not give us a breakdown of adults / children, it only says 3 killed and 4 wounded," said Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for ISAF.

"Yesterday our Company Commander met with the village Elders to discuss this incident and today the Battalion Commander met with the District sub-Governor," Kendrick said. "We have not yet had details of these meetings."

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.

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