Afghan boy among a dozen killed by US strike

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Afghan boy among a dozen killed by US strike

US forces killed at least one child, video footage obtained by Reuters on Wednesday showed, in an air strike in western Afghanistan that police say killed 12 civilians and US forces said killed 16 militants.


Video taken in the Gozara district of Herat province in the aftermath of the attack on Monday showed mangled, unrecognizable clumps of flesh -- all that remained of several people and dozens of animals killed in a tented nomad encampment. One body that was recognizable was that of a young boy. “The information we have is 12 civilians, including six women, four men and two children have been killed in the bombardment,” Gen. Ikramuddin Yawar, chief of police in western Afghanistan told Reuters. The Afghan Defense Ministry said “seven terrorists” were among “several civilians” killed in the strike. “Unfortunately, we have to say the terrorists hide themselves among the civilian population and use civilian homes as hideouts and that such actions cause civilian deaths,” the ministry said in a statement. More than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, 40 percent more than 2007, the United Nations said on Tuesday, and a quarter of all civilian casualties, 552 people, died as a result of air strikes by US and NATO-led forces.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=167362&bolum=100

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Gandhi

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Gandhi