Air strike in Afghanistan kills five business men in a vehicle

(February 10) A number of provincial officials from Farah Province in Afghanistan report that on Saturday a vehicle was destroyed in an airstrike killing all five businessmen who were inside. The five were traveling from Farah city to Abu Nasar Farah Port.

One official, Farah Governor Massoud Bakhtor said that authorities are obliged to investigate and share findings about what had happened. He pledged serious action.

Not clear who was responsible for the strike

Provincial officials are in the dark so far about what happened. It could be a US airstrike thinking the vehicle was occupied by terrorists or it could be an Afghan military strike. The Afghan Ministry of Defense has had no comment as yet. The Afghan Defense Ministry is often tight-lipped about any reports where civilian casualties are concerned. However, not informing the Farah governor on such an event could further alienate the province from the central government.

Concerns expressed about civilian casualties in attacks

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission AIHRC expressed concern about the casualties and took note that the numbers had increased lately. The AIHRC spokesperson Zabiullah Farhang called on all parties to respect international law and the Afghan constitution. Zaman Sultani, Amnesty International Researcher for South Asia said:“Unfortunately, we do not see any proper action towards civilian victims of the Afghan conflict, and we do not see any accountability for those who caused civilian casualties.”

Last November Farah residents protested against another airstrike in the province that caused a number of casualties.

US delegation meets with families of airstrike victims

On Saturday a delegation of US troops went to Kunduz province to meet with and apologize to families of an airstrike two weeks ago. The strike allegedly caused the death of five militants but five civilians as well including two women and a child.

A spokesperson for the governor of Kunduz province said: “The foreign forces special operations commander had arrived on a trip with a delegation. They apologized to the family for the martyrdom of the five civilians in Dasht-e-Archi district and assured them that they would seriously investigate the airstrike." There was no word as to whether the families would receive any compensation for the deaths.

Previously published in the Digital Journal