Afghan Air Strike Kills 4 civilians..

It seems that official reports by U.S. spokespeople have almost no relation to the reality that the villagers presented of 3 child corpses. At this time of night why would a home be targetted? In the official report there is no mention of targetting any compound that might contain Taliban! In any event this is precisely the sort of happening that provides recruits for the Taliban.


Afghan air strike kills 4 civilians: reports
3 children among dead
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 The Associated Press
Outraged southern Afghan villagers said Wednesday that a pre-dawn air strike by foreign troops killed three children and a man in the latest case of civilian deaths at the hands of Western troops.

The U.S. military said it had killed four insurgents on motorcycles in that area and could not confirm any civilian fatalities.

An Associated Press reporter and photographer saw residents of Kowuk bring the bodies of three boys and a man to the guesthouse of the Kandahar governor from their village, which is 20 kilometres north of the provincial capital, Kandahar city.

The angry villagers shouted "Death to America! Death to infidels!" as they displayed the corpses in the back of a pickup truck.

The issue of civilian casualties at the hands of foreign troops has caused deep resentment among Afghan people. President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly called on foreign troops to halt air strikes and raids in Afghan villages.

Soon after assuming command of NATO and U.S. forces last month, Gen. Stanley McChrystal ordered troops to limit the use of air strikes to prevent civilian casualties.

'Innocent children'
Abdur Rahim, the father of the boys and uncle of the slain man, told The Associated Press that he heard a pair of helicopters circling over his compound at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday before they fired two missiles that hit his home. His brother and another son were wounded, he said.

"What was the fault of my innocent children? They were not Taliban," Rahim said. "Did they come here to build our country or kill our innocent children?"

A U.S. military spokeswoman said a helicopter had fired on four insurgents carrying jugs on motorcycles through a field away from a populated area of the local district, Arghandab.

"The helicopter engaged the militants with guns and rockets, however the explosions heard by locals were caused by the jugs the insurgents were carrying exploding," said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias.

Commanders on the ground were checking into reports of civilian deaths, she said.