9 Afghan Civilians Killed In NATO Strike

Deaths Come Day After Witnesses Say U.S. Marines Killed 10 Civilians Prompting Backlash

(AP)  A NATO air strike hit a house during a firefight between Western troops and militants, killing nine Afghans who lived there, Afghan officials said Monday.

Militants overnight fired on a NATO base in Kapisa province, just north of Kabul, said Deputy Governor Sayad Mohammad Dawood Hashimmi. When soldiers returned fire, they hit a home, killing five women, three boys and a man, he said.

A deputy Interior Ministry spokesman also said nine civilians had been killed. He asked not to be identified because the ministry hadn't yet prepared a statement.

Maj. William Mitchell, a U.S. military spokesman, said officials were looking into the incident. The NATO base in Kapisa is staffed by U.S. forces.

The news of the air strike came one day after wounded Afghans and witnesses said U.S. Marines fired on civilian cars and pedestrians after a frenzied escape from a suicide bomb and gunfire attack in eastern Afghanistan. The violence sparked angry anti-U.S. demonstrations by hundreds of Afghan men.

Up to 10 Afghans were killed and 34 were injured during Sunday's violence in Nangarhar province. A delegation of Afghan officials on Monday visited the site of the suicide bombing as part of investigation into the attack and its aftermath.

The back-to-back incidents of NATO or U.S. forces killing or wounding so many Afghans was likely to cause further grief in a country that has seen scores of civilians killed by international forces since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pleaded repeatedly for Western troops to take care not to harm civilians, and in December wept during a speech lamenting civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 100 Afghan civilians died as a result of NATO and coalition assaults in 2006. An AP tally, based on reports from Afghan, NATO and coalition officials, puts the overall civilian death toll in 2006 at 834, most from militant attacks.

Lt. Col. David Accetta, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said gunmen may have fired on U.S. forces at multiple points during the escape Sunday. He said it was not yet clear how the casualties happened, though he left open the possibility that U.S. forces had shot civilians.

"It's not entirely clear right now if the people killed or wounded by gunfire were killed or wounded by coalition forces gunfire or enemy attackers gunfire," he said.

Nine witnesses — including five Afghans recuperating from bullet wounds in the hospital — told The Associated Press that U.S. forces fired indiscriminately along at least a six-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan's busiest highways — a route often filled not only with cars and trucks but Afghans on foot and bicycles.

"They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and was shot twice in his right hand. "They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot."

The tolls varied. The Interior Ministry said 10 people were killed, while the provincial health chief said eight died.

The U.S. military said eight civilians were killed and 34 wounded after earlier saying 16 were killed and 24 wounded. It did not explain the revised, lower death toll, saying only that the new figures were "the most accurate numbers to date." A U.S. Marine also was injured in the suicide blast.

At the Jalalabad hospital, several victims said the American convoy approached them on the highway and opened fire. As the convoy neared, many cars pulled over to the side of the road, but were still hit by gunfire.

"When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. "It was a convoy of three American Humvees. All three humvees were firing around."

Mohammad Karim, an 18-year-old employee at a hotel near the blast site, said he ran outside after the explosion and saw American forces fire a stream of bullets at a four-wheel drive vehicle.

"I ran to the vehicle to see how many people were inside. We found three dead bodies, and one wounded, but he was also in a very critical condition," he said. "All four people were from one family. The one who was wounded was about 20 years old."

The U.S. forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the U.S.-led coalition, not NATO's International Security Assistance Force. An official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to release the information said the troops were Marine Special Operations Forces.

[lars008-2009]

the war is legal

the resumption of hostilities was only a matter of time since iraq broke the ceasefire agreement.....

balme saddam for iraq..... even clintoon and the demonic-rats wanted to resume hostilities in 1998....

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

[sclaires]

Why is such a to-do being raised about the number of civilian deaths that just happen to have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan?? Has anyone forgotten the number of civilian deaths in WWII?? Yes, there were civilian deaths in both Europe and the Pacific during WWII because it is an unfortunate part of war. I never heard of any military forces being court martial for anything that happened during WWII.

[obiquital]

"Nobody is calling for this invasion to end. All we are saying is if the US and UK hadn't invaded Iraq and set up a second front (echos of WWII here though) they could have probably solved the problem of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Instead the US went after Iraq which had no WMDs had no connection to 9/11 and even less to AQ. The result, the eye was taken off Afghanistan, the real hub of terrorist activity, and unsuprisingly the Taliban regrouped. Now it appears we are seeing a repeat of the disaster in Iraq occuring in Afghanistan, losing the hearts and minds followed rapidly by the turning of the population."

Iraq was a mistake, this has to do with Afghanistan, not Iraq.

[lars008-2009]

What Thomas Jefferson learned from the Muslim book of jihad

Thomas Jefferson knew about fascist nazi islam..... he killed plenty of them....

In 1786 Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). They asked him by what right he extorted money and took slaves. Jefferson reported to Secretary of State John Jay, and to the Congress:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet (Mohammed), that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
http://www.khouse.org/articles/2007/691/
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2002_winter_spring/terrorism.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+Thomas Jefferson barbary
http://http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q= Thomas Jefferson islam
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q= Thomas Jefferson muslim

[jasonking1001]

You said:

"If many of you people were around during world war 2, I bet you would have been calling for us to be out of that war."

Nobody is calling for this invasion to end. All we are saying is if the US and UK hadn't invaded Iraq and set up a second front (echos of WWII here though) they could have probably solved the problem of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Instead the US went after Iraq which had no WMDs had no connection to 9/11 and even less to AQ. The result, the eye was taken off Afghanistan, the real hub of terrorist activity, and unsuprisingly the Taliban regrouped. Now it appears we are seeing a repeat of the disaster in Iraq occuring in Afghanistan, losing the hearts and minds followed rapidly by the turning of the population.

American cowardice disgusts me, they killed innocent people yesterday as the Marines were so scared and skittish a single mini-bus explodes near them and the marine-jackrabbits take off a million miles and hour shooting at anything and everything for 6 miles. It would be funny if 5 women and 2 young children were not among the victims.

But this is exactly how they will generate hatred amongst Afghans for the vicious, ignorant, ill tempered grunts, and in the end the grunts will have generated so much hatred that the enture Afghan nation will rise up to kick their *** out, and the Taliban will be seen as the saviours of Afghanistan, and probably rightly so. I dont see the Taliban being cowardly and shooting at the innocent people.

Finally the US military spokesperson should be given the liar of the year award for always creating stupid excuses whenever the US forces murder civilians, within minutes the word from the US was, it was the Taliban, it was the Taliban, they ambushed our soldiers in a 'complex ambush'...BULLSHYT!!!! Nothing complex about a minibus exploding on your ***. If your Marines were not such cowards, they would not be firing wildly and killing civilians. What BS...USA of BS.

[gunnerv1]

So whats Ann Coulter got to do with this? If she wants to say ****ot, then let her say ****ot. It's just not right for a man to look at another mans hairy a*s and find love.

[jasonmcj]

Gotta alove wackjobs like you who live in a fantasy land of propaganda and hypocrisy.

Liberal media? Only anti-american Bushbots still spew that nonsense. The world laughs at you as you continue to prop up reple like Ann Coulter as legitimate representatives.

"Gotta love the far-left liberal media....always trying to make the US military look like the bad guys.

Sick stuff to read. Nothing is ever said about these radical islamic extremists in the main stream media.....simply when the United States makes a mistake."

[jasonmcj]

We need this so Fox news can report on "all the good things" happening in Iraq.

"The freelance photographer, Rahmat Gul, said an American soldier took his camera and deleted the photos, saying he didn't have permission to take them. Gul said a soldier later said it was OK to take photos, but that the first soldier came back and angrily told him to delete the photos again. Gul said the soldier then raised his fist as if he was going to strike Gul."

[jn122736]

Notblue said: %u201Cmistakes happen in war%u201D

Destroying Journalists videotapes and photos is not a mistake it is a deliberate, inexcusable, action. An action that is, or at least it used to be, un-American. If the troops did no wrong there was no reason to destroy the videos/photos but if what they did was wrong then destroying the videos/photos was a crime.

I must say I am not too surprised that the troops may have deliberately fired on nearby vehicles. Soldiers traditionally are trained to seek out and destroy a known enemy. The risk of dying is constant and wears heavily on the nerves. However, the conflict in Iraq is unlike any other past war, even Vietnam.

Here the troops are forced to move around among everyday citizens many of whom are either suicide bombers or actual terrorists. They never know which are innocent citizens and who are the enemy or when or how they will attack.
This constant exposure instills a bitter fear and hatred for an enemy who would use citizens as shields and a like feeling for those who appear to be a willing cover for the terrorists.
None of this justifies the alleged action but it does show the cruelty of this administration for continuing to expose our soldiers to this daily torture

[krotec54]

The militants are using the same tactics as Hezbollha, hiding behind the civilians. The Afghans civilians should identify the militants to keep them out of their village, but we know that they are cowards and will not turn in their cousins from out of town.

[obiquital]

If many of you people were around during world war 2, I bet you would have been calling for us to be out of that war. Thousands of civilian casualties sometimes even tens of thousands in a single day or just a few days (35,000 - 135,000 in Dresden). You would have been saying "pull out now, the nazis arn't that bad, we're killing too many civilians." Well, the nazis were that bad and so are the terrorists.

[us_infidel]

We sure are winning those hearts and minds of these rock farmers aint we boys?
Posted by bluestardad at 08:08 AM : Mar 05, 2007

Who cares if we're winning their hearts and minds? In the end, all that matters is that there's more of us standing than them.

[notblue]

Mistakes happen in war, new there would be plenty of support for the other side here. Why is there silence when it comes to the attrocities that the Jihadists commit, you torture with portable drills, televised beheadings with dull knives etc.etc.

[grumpas]

We are speading more good will around the world! Showing all these people how much better a system democracy is. I echo the phrase "What a mess"!

[antoniof123]

What a mess.

[bluestardad]

EEEEEEHHHHAAAAAA! We sure are winning those hearts and minds of these rock farmers aint we boys?

[jasonking1001]

The Associated Press news agency says it will complain to the US military after journalists said US soldiers deleted footage of the aftermath of the Nangarhar violence.

Freelance journalists working for the Associated Press said troops erased photos and video showing a vehicle in which three people were shot dead during Sunday's incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar.