Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com & Khan Wali Salarzai / Pajhwok & Sayed Jawad / Khaama & Associated Press – 2013-06-07 00:48:32
Afghan Governor: US Drone Strike Kills Three Children
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(June 06, 2013) — The governor of Afghanistan’s Kunar Province has reported a US drone strike against the Manogi District has killed at least three civilians, all children, and wounding seven others.
A survivor of the explosion says that the drone hit their house, knocking him unconscious. He reported seven members of his family were hospitalized, and denied that they had done anything wrong.
NATO was quick to deny the report, saying that they took allegations “very seriously,: but that their own reports on operations in the area didn’t confirm any such incidents in the province.
Civilian deaths in NATO air strikes have been a huge problem throughout the war, with the US often promising an “investigation: that never seems to actually conclude into exactly what happened.
Drone Strike Kills Children in Kunar
Khan Wali Salarzai / Pajhwok (PAN)
ASADABAD (June 6, 2013) — Three children were killed and seven others, all from the same family, were injured in an overnight drone strike by US-led coalition forces in the Manogai district of eastern Kunar province, the governor said on Thursday.
Syed Fazlullah Wahidi said the pilotless aircraft targeted a civilian house on Wednesday night in the Danglik village, killing Tarbaz Khan’s two sons and a daughter.
Seven other family members of Khan and his brother injured in the strike were taken to the district hospital and their condition was said to be stable, Wahidi said, insisting they were innocent.
A surviving family member, Raziqullah, said the drone hit their house when all family members were present. “There was a big bang that came all of a sudden and knocked me unconscious.:
He said three children, including a girl, were killed and another seven children, including three girls, were injured. The children aged between three and 14 years.
In response to an emailed query from Pajhwok, ISAF said it took allegations of civilian causalities seriously. “We do not have any operational reporting that supports the allegation that civilians were killed in Kunar province.”
The NATO-led force said: “Enemies of Afghanistan are the only party to the conflict targeting civilians and increasing their use of indiscriminant weapons.They killed or injured 3,485 Afghan civilians in 2012.”
Drone Strike Kill or Injure 9 Civilians in Eastern Afghanistan
Sayed Jawad / Khaama
(June 6, 2013) — According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, at least three civilians were killed following a drone strike in this province.
Provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi said the airstrike was carried out on Wednesday night in a residential area in Manogi district.
Mr. Wahidi further added at least three civilians including two boys and a girl were killed and six others including two women were injured.
This comes as civilian casualties has been one of the controversial issues between the Afghan government and international coalition security forces. Coalition security forces have not commented regarding the incident so far.
Kunar is among the volatile regions in eastern Afghanistan where Taliban militants from Afghanistan and Pakistan are openly operating and carry out insurgency activities.
Article printed from Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper: http://www.khaama.com
Afghan Governor Says NATO Airstrike Kills 3 in the East; US-led Coalition Denies Claim
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (June 6, 32013) — The governor of an eastern province in Afghanistan alleged on Thursday that an overnight NATO airstrike killed three civilians and wounded seven there, a claim the US-led coalition flatly denied.
Sayed Fazelullah Wahidi claimed the three civilians — two women and a child — died in the airstrike allegedly carried out by a drone in the Noorgaram area of the Dara-i Peach district.
“This claim is not true,: the US-led International Assistance Force said. “ISAF takes allegations of civilian causalities very seriously. We do not have any operational reporting that supports the … allegations within the Kunar province.:
Wahidi did not say how he came to the conclusion that the three were killed by an airstrike or that it was carried out by a drone. He only said the Afghans were killed and wounded “as a result of a drone attack by the foreign forces.:
“We are investigating how this incident took place and why civilians became the victims of this attack,: he said.
Kunar is on the border with Pakistan and has seen heavy fighting between Afghan government forces and insurgents. Parts of the province have also come under shelling from Pakistan, where insurgents retain safe havens in the tribal areas.
Afghanistan has also blamed Pakistani military forces of shelling parts of the province near the frontier. Islamabad says Pakistani militants are based in the area and stage cross-border attacks.
Civilian casualties have been a contentious issue in Afghanistan, with the insurgents blamed for the overwhelming majority of them.
They have soared in recent weeks as the Taliban and other insurgents attack around the country to test the Afghan security forces, now that international troops have stepped back in preparation for the withdrawal of most of them next year.
In just the past two weeks of the escalating spring offensive, violence has killed or wounded more than 412 Afghan civilians, 24 percent more than the same time last year, the U.N. said Monday. It blamed insurgents for 84 percent of those deaths.
Earlier Thursday, a civilian was killed when a bomb exploded inside a restaurant in the northern city of Sari Pul. Another 13 people were wounded, said provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raouf Taj.
In western Farah province, government spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandai said insurgents gunned down two tribal elders as they drove into the provincial capital.
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