 Human Rights Watch accused the U.S. military of not doing enough to reduce civilian casualties during battles in Afghanistan and called Friday for "fundamental changes" to prevent civilian deaths like those during an airstrike this month.
| Illustrate with the 'Waging Law' or 'Jeez' pic? So hard to decide ... |
New York-based Human Rights Watch said its independent investigation into a May 4-5 clash that killed scores of people, including many women and children, found that measures put in place by the U.S. military to safeguard civilians were "inadequate."
| Not that anyone from HRW has ever served in our military, since that would be icky, and not that any of them have ever been involved in counter-insurgency efforts, which would be double-plus icky. |
Afghans blame U.S. airstrikes for the deaths and destruction in two villages in western Farah province. American officials say the Taliban held villagers hostage during the fight.
| We're right but with the help of HRW the terrorists will win the PR battle. |
It is unclear exactly how many people died in the fighting in Bala Baluk district. The Afghan government has paid out compensation to families for 140 dead, based on a list gathered from villagers. The U.S. military has said that figure is exaggerated, but has not given its own estimate. If the Afghan toll is correct, it would be the largest case of civilian deaths since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban.
Villagers told researchers for the watchdog group the firefight between Taliban and Afghan and U.S. forces had ended before the evening bombing began. The U.S. has said militants were still firing in the villages when it dropped bombs on the site in the evening.
"Even if some Taliban remained in the village, dropping a dozen bombs into a residential area doesn't seem to make much sense," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement.
| Says the brave, brave Brad who likely never toted a rifle ... |
"The U.S. needs to answer some basic questions about the sources and quality of information it requires before authorizing these kinds of devastating bombing runs," Adams said.
| Says the brave, brave Brad who likely never has ever evaluated battlefield intel ... |
U.S. military guidelines issued following a previous battle that resulted in large-scale civilian deaths charges commanders taking fire from an Afghan house to "satisfy themselves that every effort has been made to confirm that the Afghan facility does not shelter innocent civilians."
Human Rights Watch noted that international troops have also been told to consider pulling out of firefights in areas with large numbers of civilians. |