Rahim Faiez / Associated Press – 2009-05-06 08:49:33
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD980J6QG3
Red Cross: Dozens of Afghans Dead in US Bombing
Rahim Faiez / Associated Press
KABUL (May 6, 2009) — The international Red Cross says its officials have seen dozens of bodies in each of two villages in western Afghanistan following a US bombing run that villagers say hit civilians.
Jessica Barry, a spokeswoman in Afghanistan for the International Committee of the Red Cross, says its team traveled to Bala Baluk district of Farah province, where bombs fell late Monday. Barry says the team saw “dozens of bodies in each of the two locations,” including women and children.
President Hamid Karzai — who is in Washington — has ordered an investigation and says he will raise the issue with President Barack Obama. The US has sent a brigadier general to investigate. Civilian casualties have long been a point of friction between Karzai and the US
PHOTO: An injured Afghan child from the Bala Baluk, district of Afghanistan, is seen on a bed at the hospital in Farah province of Afghanistan Tuesday, May 5, 2009.
Abdul Basir Khan, a member of Farah’s provincial council, said villagers brought some 30 bodies, including women and children, to Farah city to show the province’s governor, that they had been killed by coalition airstrikes. Estimates of the total number of dead varied widely, and no officials were able to travel to Bala Baluk on Tuesday because the region is so dangerous.
The top US spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. Greg Julian, confirmed US coalition forces participated in the battle. Julian said several wounded Afghans sought medical treatment at a military base in Farah, but officials were still investigating the reports of civilian deaths.
(AP APhoto/Abdul Malek)
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Red Cross Confirms US Bombing Run Killed Afghan Civilians
Associated Press
KABUL (May 6, 2009) — The international Red Cross is confirming that civilians have been found in the rubble of 2 villages Afghan officials allege were hit by US bombing runs Monday. A Red Cross team sent to the scene reports women and children are among dozens of bodies they saw in the villages.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered an investigation and the US military has sent a brigadier general to head a US investigation.
A former district chief in the region says as many as 120 people were killed in the attacks and villagers are still uncovering bodies. Provincial authorities have told villagers not to bury the victims, but instead to line them up so they can be seen by the officials conducting the investigation.
Karzai calls the civilian casualties “unacceptable.” He is in Washington today to meet with President Barack Obama and his Pakistani counterpart. His office says Karzai will raise the issue of civilian deaths with Obama.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
Clinton: US Regrets Loss of Life in Afghanistan
Matthew Lee / Associated Press
WASHINGTON (May 6, 2009) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration “deeply, deeply” regrets the loss of innocent life apparently as the result of a US bombing in Afghanistan and will undertake a full review of the incident.
Opening a meeting with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department, Clinton said Wednesday that any loss of innocent life is “particularly painful.”
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai thanked Clinton for “showing concern and regret” and added that “we hope we can work together to completely reduce civilian casualties in the struggle against terrorism.”
The international Red Cross confirmed “dozens of bodies” on Wednesday in graves and rubble where Afghan officials alleged that US bombs killed civilians.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
