THE number of civilian deaths admitted to by US and NATO forces as a result of airstrikes in Afghanistan is just the tip of an iceberg, says a report just published by Human Rights Watch.
In a report published on Monday, the New York-based organisation said that ‘continuing tragedies, such as the July 6, 2008 strike on a wedding party and the August 22, 2008 bombing in Azizabad, have greatly undermined local support for the efforts of international forces.’
On the same day, the United Nations said that 92 civilians, including 60 children, had been massacred in the bombing of Azizabad.
Video footage, taken by a local doctor, showed the blood-stained corpses of dozens of children.
The US military had earlier said no more than seven civilians were killed in the attack on the village, in the western province of Herat.
Human Rights Watch says in its report that ‘the number of airstrikes has increased dramatically’ this summer.
The 43-page report – titled ‘ “Troops in Contact’’: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan’ – confirms what is already well known in the country, that airstrikes are now the weapon of choice by US and NATO forces.
As a result of airstrikes being used against well populated areas, active hostility to the US-led occupation forces is growing dramatically.
Human Rights Watch says that, ‘Prior to conducting investigations into airstrikes causing civilian loss, US officials often immediately deny responsibility for civilian deaths or place all blame on the Taleban.
‘US investigations conducted have been unilateral, ponderous, and lacking in transparency, undercutting rather than improving relations with local populations and the Afghan government.’
It also criticises ‘US “anticipatory self-defense” rules of engagement’ – in other words bomb first.
It adds: ‘In every case investigated by Human Rights Watch where airstrikes hit villages, many civilians had to leave the village because of damage to their homes and fear of further strikes.
‘People from neighbouring villages also sometimes fled in fear of future strikes on their villages. This has led to large numbers of internally displaced persons.’
The report says the US and NATO have used ‘direct air attacks with canon rounds or bombs’ in Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch analysed information on several specific airstrikes in which a large number of civilians were killed.
‘The difficulty in obtaining detailed information concerning civilians present as well as the actions of insurgents, makes analysis under the laws of war difficult,’ it said.
‘Nonetheless, the cases do provide insight into why civilians lost their lives’.
• Nijrab District in Kapisa Province
‘On March 4, 2007, nine civilians – five women, three children, and an elderly man – were killed when their mud house in Kapisa province, just north of Kabul, was hit by two 2,000 pound bombs dropped by US aircraft.
‘A survivor of the airstrike, Mujib, age 7, told a journalist, “I saw my mom, my sisters, and my brother and my grandfather were dead. And our house was destroyed.” ’
The report adds: ‘According to press accounts and a US military press release, around 9pm on March 4, a local Taleban leader and others fired a rocket at a military outpost near Nijrab, missing it and causing no casualties.
‘The US military reported that US pilots spotted “two men with AK-47 rifles leaving the scene of the rocket attack and entering a compound” in the village.
‘US forces from the outpost responded with an hour-long mortar barrage. This culminated in a strike by a US Air Force aircraft dropping two GBU-31 bombs on the main house of a five-building compound, said to include the home of a Taleban leader.
‘The US announced that it had killed the two Taleban fighters who had been targeted.’
Human Rights Watch said: ‘The available information about the attack – in particular evidence suggesting that US forces knew the house was inhabited by civilians and that only two lightly armed fighters may have been present – raises serious concerns that the airstrikes violated the international humanitarian law prohibition against disproportionate attacks.‘
• Shindand District in Herat Province
The Human Rights Watch report says: ‘On April 29, 2007, at least 25 Afghan civilians were killed during OEF airstrikes in support of US Special Operations Forces operating in the Zerkoh Valley. . .
‘The civilian deaths led to demonstrations against the Afghan government.
‘In media interviews at the time, residents expressed their anger: The bombardments were going on day and night. . . They didn’t care if it was women, children or old men.’
The report adds: ‘According to media reports, Coalition forces initially stated that 87 Taleban fighters had been killed during the 14-hour-long battle and said there were no reports of civilian casualties.’
• Sangin District in Helmand Province
‘At least 21 Afghan civilians were killed in OEF airstrikes in Sangin district, Helmand province, on the night of May 8, 2007.
‘Twenty-one bodies were presented for examination, most of which were women and children.
‘Residents disputed the reported number and claimed upwards of 80 dead.
‘The following day, the US Army Special Operations Command issued a news release that made no mention whatsoever of civilian casualties. . .
‘Abdul Nasir, a resident of the bombed village, told The New York Times: “It was around 4pm when the foreign vehicles came through on the main road. The Taleban shot at them and they turned back. Then airplanes came and bombed the village at 10pm.” ’
Two months after the raid, a man named Mohammadullah told a journalist that the airstrikes had killed 20 people in his village, among them six members of his family, including his children’s grandmother.
Villagers were so angered by the bombing ‘that many men from the village reportedly left to join the insurgents’, adds Human Rights Watch.
‘Why do NATO lie to us?’ a 25-year-old named Agah Lalai told a journalist from a hospital bed in Kandahar.
‘They say they can differentiate between the Taleban and civilians, but they destroyed my family, my home, my life. I have nothing left.
‘NATO cannot rule us like this. So long as there is just one 40-day-old boy remaining alive Afghans will fight against the people who do this to us.’
According to an Afghan news agency, a US military commander made apologies to the families of 19 Afghan civilians killed and 50 wounded and offered payments of about US$2000 for each death.
• Greshk District in Helmand Province
‘On June 22, 2007, NATO airstrikes killed at least 25 Afghan civilians, including women and children, in an attack on insurgents in two residential compounds in Gereshk district, Helmand province.
‘The provincial police chief reported that these deaths included nine women, three babies, and the mullah of a local mosque. . .
‘A British military spokesperson for the ISAF, Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Mayo, said: “If civilians had been identified in the area, the air strike would not have gone ahead.”
In another incident a week later, ‘Hajji Assadullah, another tribal elder, said that 35 villagers who were fleeing in a tractor-trailer had been hit by an airstrike, “There were only two survivors, an old man and his son, and the son was seriously injured, and I saw them with my own eyes.” ’
Local people said over 170 were killed altogether.
• Deh Bala District in Nangahar Province
‘On the morning of July 6, 2008, a wedding party was hit by an OEF airstrike as it travelled to a wedding near the village of Kacu in Deh Bala district in Nangahar province.
‘The US military swiftly denied civilian casualties, blaming them instead on militant propaganda.
‘On the day of the attack, Haji Amishah Gul, the chief government official in Deh Bala, said the wedding party was attacked on its way to the groom’s house.
‘ “They stopped in a narrow location for rest. The plane came and bombed the area. There were between 80 to 90 people altogether. We have carried six of the injured to this hospital, and more might be coming. The exact number of casualties is not clear.”
‘However, the US spokesperson, 1st Lieutenant Perry, said, “Whenever we do an airstrike the first thing they’re going to cry is ‘Airstrike killed civilians’ when the missile actually struck militant extremists we were targeting in the first place. At this time we don’t believe we’ve harmed anyone except for the combatants.”
‘An investigation ordered by President Karzai and led by members of the Afghan senate soon found the death toll to be 47 members of a wedding party, which was also confirmed by human rights officials.
‘Karzai visited the small village on July 17, where he met relatives of the victims, highlighting the problem of civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan.’
The Human Rights Watch report concludes: ‘The combination of light ground forces and overwhelming airpower has become the dominant doctrine of war for the US in Afghanistan.
‘The result has been large numbers of civilian casualties, controversy over the continued use of airpower in Afghanistan, and intense criticism of US and NATO forces by Afghan political leaders and the general public.’
