Monday, September 8, 2008 :Civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and NATO air strikes have nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. Air strikes killed at least 321 civilians in 2007, compared with at least 116 in 2006. The tally for this year is expected to be even higher. We speak with Kathy Gannon, an award-winning Associated Press correspondent who has covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for over two decades.
The top US military commander in Afghanistan has called for an investigation into reports that over 90 civilians were killed in US airstrikes on an Afghan village last month. General David McKiernan requested a review of the American military investigation into the incident Sunday citing “emerging evidence.” He did not elaborate on the evidence but Afghan and Western officials have told journalists there is video from the aftermath of the August 22nd airstrike that shows dozens of dead civilians.
The Afghan government and the UN mission in Afghanistan both concurred with villagers reports that at least 90 civilians–two-thirds of them children–were killed in the airstrike. But the initial US military investigation released Tuesday concluded that no more than 42 people had been killed, of which only 7 were civilians and the rest members of the Taliban.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited the affected village of Azizabad Thursday. He paid his respect to the mourners and condemned the airstrikes.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also ordered a review of whether the U.S. and NATO should be allowed to use airstrikes and carry out raids in villages.
The August 22nd incident is only one in a series of US and NATO airstrikes that have caused high numbers of civilian deaths. According to a new report from Human Rights Watch the increased use of air strikes has tripled civilian deaths in Afghanistan over the past year.
Last week hundreds protested an airstrike in Kabul that reportedly killed three members of a family: a man named Noorullah and two of his infant sons, one of whom was only eight months old.
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