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NATO Admits Gardez Civilian Deaths
[Quqnoos] The NATO-led force has admitted the killing of five civilians, including three women, during an overnight operation in Paktia province in FebruaryNATO said its troops, in a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers, had entered the house in Gardez district on February 12, believing an armed fighter was inside. They killed the two men because they carried weapons, although later leaned they were not Taliban fighters. "We now understand that the men killed were only trying to protect their families," Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for Nato-led forces, said on Monday. NATO had earlier said its troops had found the women already killed, bound and gagged, but later acknowledged that this was not right. In March, Gen Stanley McChrystal, the commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, issued new directives to his troops calling for restrictions on night raids. But civilian deaths reportedly rose overall, because the number killed by Taliban fighters rose by 40 per cent, making last year the deadliest year for Afghan civilians. Posted by: Fred 2010-04-06 |
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