'Fifty die' in Afghan air strike

[Eugene]

Last Updated: Monday, 22 May 2006, 06:11 GMT 07:11 UK

'Fifty die' in Afghan air strike

Aircraft from the US-led coalition have struck a village in southern Afghanistan,
possibly killing up to 50 people, reports say.

A US military spokesman said up to 50 Taleban may have been killed, but a BBC
correspondent has received reports that 30 civilians died and 50 were injured.

<snip>

The attack took place in in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, which has
witnessed heavy fighting in the past few days.

Eyewitnesses and local doctors in the area say children were among those injured.

<snip>

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5003478.stm

AP version: 50 Taliban Rebels Killed in Afghanistan

[magellan]

1. Is this the anticipated attack on the village the gov't was

...talking about last week? Where they said they were going to bomb the whole place because the civilians were no doubt in league with the Taliban?

Sickening.

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Evilllllllllll.

x(

[thecrow]

3. Reminds me of what friend told me about Viet Nam

They would fly a copter into an area and have to shoot the Viet Cong. New to this, my friend asked, "But hoow do you know who is who?"
He said he was told to shoot those shooting at him first, and then "just shoot whoever runs".
Apalling.

[sweetheart]

7. wasn't that platoon ?

Are you repeating a conversation you had with a film character?

[thecrow]

20. No, Sweetheart, I'm talking about my friend who happened to be

a medic in the US Army in Viet Nam in 1969. His name was Dave
and he lived in Bloomington, Indiana.

[acmavm]

4. Indescriminate murder will bring the population to their knees allright.

:sarcasm:

[Eugene]

5. Update: 60 militants, 16 civilians killed - Kandahar Governor

(Associated Press)

Airstrike in South Afghanistan Kills 76

<snip>

( Gov. Asadullah Khalid : )
"These sort of accidents happen during fighting, especially
when the Taliban are hiding in homes," he told reporters.
"I urge people not to give shelter to the Taliban."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5837354,00.html

[sabra]

6. Update number on Reuters is 76....

[Crayson]

8. Bombs don't make a difference between soldier and civilian

Specially in countries where there are no soldiers but just people who pick up a weapon to defend their home.

And the line between soldier and civilian and civilians who help soldiers is vanishing.

People who provide the US army with goods are targeted by rebels to cut of their supply lines.
And vice versa the US forces bomb whole villages because there are people with guns defending their homes.
OBVIOUSLY there are also their women and children and livestock in the village.

Not taking sides here.
Just the reality of war.
If you're in the wrong place at the wrong time you're a victim, doesn't matter whether you were fighting back or not.

And that's why there is no good war.

[xchrom]

9. ''nits make lice''

that was the saying when europeans killed first nations peoples children.

we haven't wandered far.

[leftchick]

10. they were innocent civilians

no doubt in my mind. :(

[gratuitous]

11. Collective reprisals are against the Geneva Conventions

And it's up to the attacker and the invader to make sure that it is not killing indiscriminately. Unless, of course, that's just one of those famously "quaint" provisions of the Conventions that the Imperial United States is no longer bound to follow.

Join the military, participate in war crimes.

[leftchick]

12. now they say 80 are dead

<snip>

Helicopters bombed the madrassa and some of the Taliban ran from there and into people's homes. Then those homes were bombed," said Haji Ikhlaf, 40. "I saw 35 to 40 dead Taliban and around 50 dead or wounded civilians."

Another villager, Zurmina Bibi, cradled her wounded 8-month-old. She said about 10 people were killed in her home, including three or four children.

"There were dead people everywhere," she said, crying.

A doctor, Mohammed Khan, said he had treated 10 people from the village. Moments later, a pickup vehicle pulled up at the hospital with five wounded men lying in the back.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060522/ap_on_re_as/afghan_airstrike



An Afghan boy, who got wounded by a coalition airstrike in Panjwai district of Kandahar province, is carried for treatment at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, May 22, 2006. U.S.-led coalition aircraft killed up to 80 suspected Taliban militants in a night airstrike on a rebel stronghold in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said. The local governor said 16 civilians also died. (AP Photo/Noor Khan)

[DrZeeLit]

13. But, but... Afghan is MISSION WAY PAST ACCOMPLISHED....

When do you think the * Admin will be bringing up this issue?
a) Hell freezes
b) Pigs fly
c) Lieberman denounces Bush


hmmmm.

[IChing]

14. U.S. airstrike kills dozens of Taliban

Afghan child Mohammad Imran, who got wounded by
a coalition airstrike in Panjwai district of Kandahar province,
is treated at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan

May 22, 4:25 PM EDT
U.S. airstrike kills dozens of Taliban

By NOOR KHAN
Associated Press Writer
Photo By NOOR KHAN

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. warplanes hunting Taliban fighters bombed a religious school and mud-brick homes in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing dozens of suspected militants and 17 civilians in one of the deadliest strikes since the American-led invasion in 2001.

Pickup trucks ferried wounded villagers to a hospital in nearby Kandahar city. One woman, cradling her injured baby, recounted seeing "dead people everywhere" after the nighttime attack.

Taliban violence escalates each spring in Afghanistan with snow melting on mountain passes. But the scale of the assaults - and of U.S.-led coalition response - has been greater this year, as thousands of NATO forces prepare to deploy in the volatile south, the heartland of the ousted Islamic regime.

According to coalition and Afghan figures, the airstrikes brought the death toll of militants, Afghan forces, coalition soldiers and civilians to as many as 286 since Wednesday, when the recent storm of violence erupted in the south>>>>snip

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHANISTAN?SITE=FLSTU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[mike_c]

15. what'd they have another wedding in Afghanistan or something...?

Yeah, that kid would have undoubtedly grown up to be a terra-ist. :puke:

[xxqqqzme]

16. 'undoubtedly grown up to be a terra-ist ' Now

you're beginning 2 'get it'...that is why PRE-EMPTIVE war is necessary!

:sarcasm:

I though the taliban had been taken off the terrorist list?? Wasn't that announce just a few weeks ago?

[benburch]

17. Suspicion equals guilt

A policy they no doubt will roll out HERE when it suits them.

[OKNancy]

18. kick

[partylessinOhio]

19. Planes started bombing a midnight, cont'd until 5am.

Mohammed Rafiq, a 23-year-old farmer, said the bombs caused enormous destruction. "I don't have anything left," he said.


--------------



May 22, 2006
U.S. Planes Kill Afghan Villagers in Assault on Taliban
By RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 22 — American planes in pursuit of Taliban fighters bombed a village in southern Afghanistan and killed 16 civilians and wounded 15 more, among them women and children, the local governor and villagers said today. The United States-led coalition said it had conducted a "successful operation" in the area and killed at least 20 Taliban fighters in the bombing Sunday night and may have killed another 60.

The governor of Kandahar, Asadullah Khaled, expressed his concern at the high civilian casualties after visiting the wounded in the city hospital, but he also urged people not to allow the Taliban to take refuge in their homes.

"As they were chased by the coalition, the enemy hid in civilian houses, and as it was nighttime and difficult to tell who is enemy and who is civilian, unfortunately we have civilian casualties also," the governor said in comments after touring the hospital wards. "We are upset about the civilian casualties," he added.

A coalition spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, in a statement issued in Kabul, said he was aware of reports of civilian casualties, and coalition forces were reviewing reports from the ground.The last week has seen the bloodiest fighting in four years since the United States military intervened in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces. Hundreds of Taliban fighters have battled Afghan and coalition forces in several southern provinces, resulting in scores of deaths. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/22/world/asia/22cnd-afghan.html?ex=1305950400&en=e50b1514bb53fb1a&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[Scurrilous]

21. Karzai Orders Probe Into U.S. Airstrike

<snip>

"President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into U.S. airstrikes on a village that killed at least 16 civilians and asked to meet with the U.S. commander of forces in Afghanistan, his office said Tuesday.

Karzai expressed "concern at the coalition forces' decision to bomb civilian areas" but also strongly condemned the "terrorists' act of cowardice" to use civilians as human shields.

A statement from Karzai's office said the bombing of the village of Azizi in Kandahar province late Sunday and early Monday killed 16 civilians, although local officials say 17 died. The U.S.-led coalition said up to 80 militants were killed in the strike."

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