US-led raid kills 40 civilians in Afghanistan-witnesses

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, May 10 (Reuters) - At least 40 civilians were killed in an air strike in Afghanistan by foreign forces, witnesses said on Thursday, but the U.S.-led coalition said only rebels were hit and it knew of no other casualties.

The deaths on Tuesday in the southern province of Helmand, if confirmed, would raise the civilian toll at the hands of foreign troops to 110 in the past two weeks.

"Foreign troops are killing Afghans every day, but our government has closed its eyes and does not see our casualties," local resident Haji Ibrahim said.

Helmand governor, Assadullah Wafa, said earlier 21 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Tuesday's air strike in Sangin district -- a major opium-growing area and the scene of a large anti-Taliban operation by foreign troops.

The U.S.-led coalition said its troops and Afghan soldiers on patrol in the area had come under fire on Tuesday and there were no reported injuries to any civilians.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL305008.htm

[babylonsister]

1. Such discrepancies in stories; who's telling the truth? nt

[Tempest]

2. Likely it's the U.S. government

Whenever they say no civilians died in an air strike in a residential area, they're lying.

We've seen it before time and again in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[maddezmom]

3. Civilian Deaths Confirmed in Afghan Battle, still unclear how many

Civilian Deaths Confirmed in Afghan Battle

By JASON STRAZIUSO
The Associated Press
Friday, May 11, 2007; 2:51 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The U.S.-led coalition confirmed late Thursday that a battle between U.S. forces and Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan caused civilian casualties and that a joint Afghan-U.S. investigation is under way.

The governor of Helmand province has said 21 civilians were killed in airstrikes Tuesday in the Sangin area of Helmand province, though residents of the area said the civilian death toll was higher.

In a statement late Thursday, the coalition said it had treated 20 Afghan civilians wounded in the 16-hour battle, including a child who later died.

"There are confirmed reports of civilian casualties," but it was unclear how many, the statement said. "A joint Afghan and coalition force inquiry is being conducted."

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000846.html

[donkeyotay]

4. Wasn't Karzai just saying civilian deaths were unacceptable?

And didn't I just see a report saying that Afghanistan couldn't be won militarily either? I am in a tiny minority, but I have never accepted this war either. (We were not shown the proof, Blair was.) It's a quagmire-in-waiting. Every day we embitter a population who will fight us to the end.