Afghan air war grows in intensity

The NATO force is called ISAF the International Security Assistance Force. However their priority is security for their own forces not Afghans as the article puts it: But U.S. and allied troops in trouble take precedenceKarzai has complained constantly about civilian casualties caused by these airstrikes. The response of the U.S. and NATO has been to increase the number of airstrikes rather than reduce them. Last fall, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, responding to the rising civilian death toll from airstrikes, publicly demanded that the United States find an alternative. But airstrikes only increased. The increasing civilian deaths will recruit more to the Taliban ranks. This will increase the number of attacks. In response the U.S. and others will increase troop levels and increase the level of casualties and violence. Welcome to the New American Century.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.airstrikes28jul28,0,6638715.storybaltimoresun.comAfghan air war grows in intensityFears of civilian casualties rise as airstrikes increaseBy David WoodSun reporterJuly 28, 2008.Daily airstrikes by U.S. and allied fighter-bombers in Afghanistan have almost doubled since last summer, according to U.S. Air Force data, a trend that reflects increased insurgent attacks but also raises concerns about civilian casualties.The growing reliance on airstrikes by U.S. commanders in Afghanistan appears to mark a turn in the course of the war.Responding to requests from ground commanders, allied aircraft over the past week have pummeled enemy ground targets an average of 68 times a day across Afghanistan, dropping 500- and 2,000-pound guided bombs and strafing enemy forces with cannon fire, according to Air Force daily strike reports.A year ago, the Air Force was recording about 35 airstrikes per day in Afghanistan.Although the Air Force takes what it says are exhaustive measures to avoid accidental deaths, civilian casualties from airstrikes have spiked twice this year, from none in January to 23 in March to 60 so far this month, according to new, unpublished data from Human Rights Watch researcher Marc Garlasco, a former targeting chief for the Pentagon's Joint Staff.Taliban-led insurgents are attacking in significant numbers and staying to fight rather than engaging in traditional hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, according to U.S. commanders.In several recent incidents, U.S. and allied troops prevailed in pitched battles only after fighter-bombers showed up to blast the insurgents.The growing role of air power suggests that the war will require more than the additional troops recommended by President Bush and both presidential candidates. It might require more manned and unmanned aircraft from an already overstretched Air Force and Navy.And greater use of air power would likely result in more civilian casualties, in a conflict in which winning local loyalty is considered the key to success.Last fall, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, responding to the rising civilian death toll from airstrikes, publicly demanded that the United States find an alternative. But airstrikes only increased.Allied commanders are still investigating a July 6 airstrike that the Afghan government says killed 47 civilians on their way to a wedding."We deeply regret any incident where civilians are harmed," said Royal Navy Capt. Mike Finney, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan.Enemy 'emboldened'But the Air Force says it is only responding to the intensity of fighting on the ground."Let's face it, the enemy is more emboldened," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Raaberg, deputy commander of air operations in the region. Raaberg is a B-1 bomber pilot who has flown strike missions over Afghanistan as recently as last week."The Taliban, when they have an opportunity to take a stand, they are doing that," he said in a telephone interview from the region.Coalition aircraft have doubled the number of hours they spend each day on airborne "armed overwatch" of U.S. and allied convoys and other operations, he said. He acknowledged that strike missions also have doubled as ground commanders increasingly request air support.To meet the demand, allied air crews are flying more sorties each day, and more U.S. aircraft are on station with the recent diversion of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from Iraq operations to supporting operations in Afghanistan."We are shifting assets as needed to make sure we don't leave [ground forces] uncovered," Raaberg said.But the Air Force has to scramble to meet unexpected demand.A Taliban attack July 13, for example, nearly overran a remote U.S. and Afghan outpost near the Pakistani border. Insurgents held the upper hand in combat until an Air Force B-1 bomber flew in to drop 2,000-pound bombs, an unmanned Predator fired a Hellfire missile and other strike aircraft dropped bombs and strafed the enemy with cannon. The insurgents retreated, leaving nine American soldiers dead."The only reason they weren't completely overrun was air power, and that's the first time that has happened" in the Afghan war, said John McCreary, who retired in 2006 as a senior intelligence analyst for the Pentagon's Joint Staff."Coalition ground forces are not winning every battle, but they are winning every battle where they have air support," said McCreary, who follows Afghanistan closely and still assembles a daily open-source intelligence report.On July 20, Raaberg was piloting a B-1 bomber over Afghanistan when he was redirected to attack Taliban forces gathering for an assault on a U.S. forward operating base in Kunar province, in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan."They started attacking within half an hour of when I got there," Raaberg recalled. He said U.S. artillery fired at the enemy, followed by airstrikes, followed by more artillery and more airstrikes, "until we ran out of bombs."Defeating such Taliban attacks, he said, is "not so much air [power] saving the day, it's air combined with ground forces combined with our coalition partners. We're trying to use everything."Analysts who have studied casualty patterns in Afghanistan say that the vast majority are caused, deliberately or not, by the Taliban and other insurgents.According to Human Rights Watch, a nonpartisan international research organization, 929 Afghan civilians were killed in the fighting in 2006. Of those, 699 were killed by the Taliban and 230 by U.S. or coalition forces, including 116 by airstrikes.In 2007, 1,633 Afghan civilians died in the fighting, with 950 killed by the Taliban and 434 by U.S. and coalition forces, according to data provided by Garlasco. The rest died under unclear or unknown circumstances, he said.But while the number killed by U.S. or coalition ground forces stayed about the same, those killed by airstrikes more than doubled, to 321.A key reason for the increase is that the Taliban are "shielding" their fighters among Afghanistan's civilian population, Garlasco said."They actually go into peoples' homes, force them to stay there during a battle, force them to build defensive trenches for them - these are true Geneva Conventions violations," Garlasco said.Raaberg said the Air Force will not attack insurgents shielding themselves among civilians "and the enemy knows that."Unplanned strikesBut Garlasco said the Air Force has not taken as much care with its quick-reaction airstrike missions as it has with those planned in detail and reviewed by intelligence analysts and lawyers at the U.S. regional air operations headquarters in Qatar."In their planned airstrikes, they have virtually eliminated the danger of civilian casualties," Garlasco said. "It is in the unplanned airstrikes that you're seeing almost all of the civilian casualties."Such unplanned missions often involve urgent calls to support U.S. and allied troops who unexpectedly engage in battle. Or an unmanned surveillance plane might find a group of people mistakenly identified by targeters as insurgents.Raaberg said that for unplanned missions - such as the one in which he participated July 20 - the air command dispatches not just strike aircraft but intelligence and command aircraft, all in close coordination with ground commanders and tactical air controllers."It's a painstaking effort," he said. If insurgents are mixed in with civilians, "we will wait them out if we can" or ask the ground commander to flush them out.But U.S. and allied troops in trouble take precedence."My hat's off to the ones on the ground," Raaberg said."There's nothing more uncomfortable than to hear on the radio mortars and grenades going off. You've got to go help them."david.wood@baltsun.comCopyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun

Afghan Governor: Airstrikes kill 22 Afghan civilians

No wonder the Afghan resistance is growing. Events such as these in a tribal society where retribution and vengeance are obligations simply help the Taliban gain recruits. Of course usually the U.S. and NATO have a quite different story. Usually the counter report is that the dead are all (or mostly) Taliban. Note that this report is by a governor not a Taliban supporter.
The same hubris is being shown by NATO and the US as was shown by the former USSR. Both think that a vastly superior military force can ultimately win against a jihadist insurgency.


Airstrikes kill 22 Afghan civilians
Afghan governor says airstrikes kill 22 civilians; US military denies noncombatants hurt
FISNIK ABRASHIAP News
Jul 04, 2008 19:59 EST
The U.S. military said airstrikes by its attack helicopters hit two vehicles carrying insurgents in eastern Afghanistan. The province's governor said 22 civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed.





A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said Friday the airstrikes in Nuristan province hit militants who earlier attacked a U.S. military base with mortars.
The helicopters identified the militants' firing positions, tracked them down and destroyed the vehicles they were traveling in, said 1st Lt. Nathan Perry.
"These were combatants. These were people who were firing on us," Perry said. "We have no reports of noncombatant injuries."
He gave no account of casualties in the vehicles.
Nuristan's Gov. Tamim Nuristani said, however, 22 civilians were killed in the Waygal district of Nuristan province. "This afternoon (Friday), two civilian vehicles were hit by airstrikes," Nuristani said over the phone.
Among those killed were a woman and a child. All 22 dead bodies were brought to a provincial hospital, Nuristani said. Seven other people were wounded.
"Last night, the opposition fired rockets at the (U.S.) base ... and today this incident happened," said Nuristani, speaking from Kabul.
The military base is 6 miles away from the place where the airstrikes happened, Nuristani said.
It was impossible to independently verify any of the claims because of the remoteness of the area.
In other violence, gunmen lobbed a grenade and sprayed a police checkpoint with gunfire in the southern Kandahar province, killing eight officers, said provincial police chief Sumanwal Matiullah.
Overall, more than 8,000 people were killed in insurgency-related attacks in Afghanistan last year — the most since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Violence has claimed more than 2,100 lives so far this year.
___
Associated Press reporters Amir Shah in Kabul and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.
Source: AP News

Twenty five civilians reported killed in Afghan air strike.

There seems to be a clear policy emerging of attacking insurgents when they take shelter in homes. The result of course are many more civilian casualties. However, this also teaches the population if they do not rid their area of Taliban they may suffer bombardment. It is doubtful that this policy will have the desired effect. It just causes more civilian casualties caused both by the Taliban and by ISAF. Karzai makes his usual squeaky protests but he does not control what NATO and the US do in Afghanistan.


Afghan police say 25 civilians killed in air strike
AMIR SHAH

Associated Press

June 22, 2007 at 9:36 AM EDT

KABUL — Taliban militants attacked police posts in southern Afghanistan, triggering NATO air strikes that left 25 civilians dead, including three infants and the local mullah, a senior police officer said Friday.

NATO said its overnight bombardment killed most of a group of 30 insurgents and blamed them for the deaths of any innocents, saying they had launched "irresponsible" attacks from civilian homes.

NATO acknowledged for the first time that civilians died in another battle that began last weekend in Uruzgan province, including some possibly in air strikes. But a Dutch military chief accused the Taliban of killing Afghans who refused to join them during the three-day battle in the town of Chora.

Taliban fighters slashed the throats of eight women and hauled other people out of their homes to kill them, General Dick Berlijn told reporters in The Hague, Netherlands, citing "solid reports" from Afghan police.


Although Taliban attacks have killed some 169 civilians in Afghanistan this year, the death of innocents at the hands of foreign forces often stirs the most anger among a population that expects NATO and U.S. troops to be more careful than insurgents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized the mounting civilian toll from NATO and U.S.-led military operations as "difficult for us to accept or understand."

The police posts came under fire late Thursday in Gereshk district of Helmand province, Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, provincial police chief, told The Associated Press.

NATO responded by calling in air strikes, which killed 20 suspected militants, but also 25 civilians, including nine women, three babies and the mullah at the local mosque, Mr. Andiwal said.

Taliban used at least two civilian compounds for cover during the clashes, which lasted into early Friday, Mr. Andiwal said.

"NATO was targeting the areas where the fire was coming from ... and two compounds were completely destroyed, and the families living in those compounds were killed," he said.

Villagers loaded the victims' bodies onto tractor trailers to take them to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, to prove they were innocent victims, but police stopped them, Mr. Andiwal said.

NATO said the aircraft struck after insurgents attacked troops from its International Security Assistance Force nine miles northeast of Gereshk town.

"A compound was assessed to have been occupied by up to 30 insurgent fighters, most of whom were killed in the engagement," an alliance statement said.

Lt. Col. Mike Smith, a NATO spokesman, expressed concern about the reports of civilian deaths, but claimed that as insurgents had chosen the time and location for the attack, "the risk to civilians was probably deliberate."

"It is this irresponsible action that may have led to casualties," he said.

If confirmed, the casualties in Gereshk would bring the number of civilians killed in NATO or U.S.-led military operations this year to 177, according to an AP tally of figures provided by Afghan officials and witness report.

Aid groups and other observers warn that anger at the mounting civilian toll is undermining support for the presence of foreign troops and setting back their goal of securing Mr. Karzai's Western-backed government against a Taliban comeback.

Afghan officials have said more than 100 people — including militants, civilians and police — died in the battle at Chora before NATO and Afghan forces re-established control of the area after Taliban overran three police checkpoints.

Taliban fighters tried to force local civilians to fight alongside them, "and killed citizens who refused — they were hauled out of their houses by the Taliban and executed," Gen. Berlijn said.

"One police checkpoint commander saw two brothers murdered before his eyes by the Taliban," he said. Another police report said "eight women were murdered — they had their throats slashed."

Smith, the NATO spokesman, said some civilians "may have been killed at the hands of the Taliban, some may have been caught in crossfire and some may have died in air strikes against enemy positions." He said it was impossible to say how many people died in the battle.

"No matter the cause, we mourn any loss of innocent life. We are here to help provide safety and security to the people of Afghanistan, so even a single death is cause for sadness," Col. Smith said in a statement.

Mr. Karzai's government has protested repeatedly at NATO's frequent resort to massive firepower, and pleaded for closer co-ordination with Afghan officials to avoid civilian losses.

Mr. Karzai told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview broadcast Thursday that the issue of civilian deaths is "becoming difficult for us to accept or understand."

"Every effort has to be made for it to stop ... every detail has to be worked out for it in order for civilians to stop being casualties," Mr. Karzai told the BBC.