KABUL: A government-appointed commission found that 53 civilians were killed in a nearly two-week NATO-led operation in a Taliban stronghold last month, the head of the team said on Sunday. President Hamid Karzai appointed the commission to investigate civilian casualties in Operation Medusa in the southern province of Kandahar after its military phase wrapped up mid-September with commanders declaring success. Provincial authorities had previously said 13 civilians died. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said around 1,000 rebels were killed and others were forced to retreat. “Our findings show that 53 people have been martyred, nine others have been wounded, eight mosques have been destroyed and a number of people’s houses and orchards have been destroyed,” the head of the commission told AFP.The information was gathered from victims, their relatives, villagers, provincial authorities and security forces, said Moyahedin Baloch, who is also a religious adviser to Karzai. The national broadcaster RTA reported that Baloch had told the president that most of the casualties occurred because the Taliban used civilian homes as cover, forcing troops to return fire into the houses. The president condemned the Taliban’s use of civilians as “human shields”, the television station said.
ISAF and Afghan authorities had warned residents to leave the area of operation — Panjwayi, Pashmul and Zhari which are about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar city — before the fighting began.