Afghans Protest Civilian Deaths
VOA News 12 August 2010
Some 300 Afghans blocked a main road in Afghanistan Thursday to protest the alleged killing of civilians during a NATO raid in central Wardak province.
NATO says a joint Afghan and international force targeted a series of compounds in search of a Taliban commander in the Sayed Abad district late Wednesday. The alliance says it killed several suspected insurgents who showed "hostile intent."
But villagers say three Afghan civilians were killed in the raid. Protesters took to the streets in Sayed Abad Thursday shouting "Death to America."
In a separate incident, NATO says coalition forces mistakenly shot and killed an Afghan woman Wednesday during fighting with insurgents in southern Helmand province. In a statement, NATO expressed deep regret and said it must continue its emphasis on reducing the loss of civilian life to an absolute minimum.
A United Nations report released earlier this week found that 1,300 Afghans were killed in the first half of this year, with insurgents responsible for three-fourths of civilian casualties.
The Taliban on Thursday rejected the report as propaganda.
The U.N. report found that NATO forces were responsible for roughly 12 percent of civilian casualties.
In eastern Afghanistan, NATO said Thursday that coalition air strikes killed at least 20 insurgents in Paktia province during an operation to disrupt the Haqqani network. The Afghan Taliban faction has close ties to al-Qaida.
Meanwhile, a Christian aid organization says it believes a group of non-local fighters killed 10 members of its medical team in an ambush last week.
The International Assistance Mission said Thursday its own probe suggests the killings in Badakhshan province were not the result of a robbery.
Also Thursday, the British defense ministry says a British soldier died late Wednesday from injuries sustained during a bomb attack in Helmand last month.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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