NATO says it accidentally killed five Afghan civilians
February 16th, 2010 - 1:43 am ICT by BNO NewsKABUL (BNO NEWS) — Five Afghan civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike on Monday after they were mistakenly identified as insurgents, the NATO-led ISAF alliance said.
The alliance said a joint Afghan-ISAF patrol observed individuals digging along a path in southern Afghanistan, and believed that the individuals were emplacing an improvised explosive device (IED), which have killed dozens of international troops in just the past month. The joint patrol then called for an airstrike, killing five and injuring two.
The incident happened in the Zhari district of Kandahar province and was not related to Operation Moshtarak. When the Afghan-ISAF patrol approached the scene and determined the individuals had not been emplacing an IED, they provided immediate first aid and flew the injured to an ISAF medical facility for treatment.
NATO said it regrets the “tragic incident” and said it would launch an investigation. “We regret this tragic accident and offer our sympathies to the families of those killed and injured,” said U.S. Major General Michael Regner, the ISAF Joint Command deputy chief of staff for joint operations. “Our combined forces take every precaution to minimize civilian casualties and we will investigate this incident to determine how this happened.”
NATO said that ISAF leaders have met with village elders to discuss how to minimize future incidents, and said the families of the victims will be offered compensation according to local customs.
Monday’s incident comes only a day after an airstrike in the country’s Helmand province accidentally killed twelve civilians. NATO fired two rockets from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in the Nad Ali district, targeting insurgents who were allegedly firing upon Afghan and ISAF forces. The rockets missed their intended target by approximately 300 meters, killing the civilians.
ISAF said the use of the HIMARS has been suspended until a review of the incident has been conducted.
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Tags: airstrike, bno, civilian casualties, deputy chief of staff, explosive device, helmand province, himars, international troops, isaf, joint operations, kandahar province, local customs, medical facility, rocket system, southern afghanistan, target, targeting insurgents, tragic accident, tragic incident, village elders