AT LEAST 27 civilians were killed in a Nato airstrike in southern Afghanistan yesterday, prompting a furious response from Afghan officials. The airstrike – in which four women and a child are known to have died – brought a personal apology from Gen Stanley McChrystal, the Nato commander in Afghanistan, to Ppresident Hamid Karzai.
It added to growing anger over the number of civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict, and came hours after Mr Karzai had urged Nato to do more to protect civilians.
In a statement, the Afghanistan council of ministers condemned the air strike as “unjustifiable”.
The cabinet said initial reports indicated Nato had fired on a convoy of three vehicles, killing at least 27 people and injuring a further 12. Gen McChrystal spoke to Mr Karzai yesterday to express his regret and promise an investigation. “We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives,” he said. “I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will redouble our effort to regain that trust.”
Syed Zahir Shah, the police chief of Kajran district, in Daikundi province, said he spent all day yesterday helping to recover body parts so they could be prepared for burial.
He said three four-wheel drive vehicles were hit while travelling through a Taliban area. The vehicles were carrying passengers from Daikundi province to various destinations, including Kandahar, Herat and Iran.
All the victims were Hazaras, the ethnic group from the central highlands who have always opposed the Taliban. Mr Shah said the injured included a six-year-old child who was taken for treatment in Uruzgan and a nine-year-old girl. He said all the vehicles were entirely destroyed and many of the bodies were so badly disfigured it was difficult to identify them. Locals say the injured were taken by helicopter to the US military base at Bagram, north of Kabul.
The attack triggered fury from local politicians, including Muhammad Hashim Watanwali, an MP from Uruzgan, who said Nato and Hamid Karzai had repeatedly promised to bring a stop to civilian casualties, including most recently at the opening of parliament on Saturday.
Amanullah Hotak, head of Uruzgan’s provincial council, demanded a government investigation into what happened. He said: “We don’t want their apologies or the money they always give after every attack. We want them to kill all of us together instead of doing it to us one by one.”
Nato confirmed its aircraft had fired on what it believed was a group of insurgents on their way to attack a joint Nato and Afghan patrol in the southern Uruzgan province. It had later discovered that women and children had been hurt in the strike. The incident was not part of Operation Moshtarak, the major offensive to combat the Taliban in Helmand province.
Zemeri Bashary, an Afghan interior ministry spokesman, said the airstrike hit three minibuses on a main road near the Uruzgan border with the central Day Kundi province. He said the 42 people in the vehicles were all civilians.
On Saturday, Mr Karzai criticised Nato troops for not doing enough to protect civilian lives. During a speech to the opening session of the Afghan parliament he called for extra caution from Nato.
“We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties. Our effort and our criticism will continue until we reach that goal.” – (Guardian service)