Six Afghan children among 8 killed in NATO air strike
Posted by Sabeeh kaimi on Monday, May 28, 2012
* All victims belong to same family
* Afghan president orders investigation
* ISAF says it is looking into the incident
KABUL: A NATO air strike killed a family of eight, including six children, when it hit their home in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said on Sunday.
President Hamid Karzai, who is a fierce critic of civilian deaths attributed to NATO forces, immediately ordered an investigation into Saturday night’s incident in Paktia province, his office said in a statement.
“Eight people, a man, his wife and six of their children, are dead,” local government spokesman Rohullah Samoon told AFP.
“It was an air strike conducted by NATO. This man had no connection to the Taliban or any other terrorist group.”
A senior security official in Kabul confirmed the strike and deaths.
“It’s true. A house was bombed by NATO. A man named Mohammad Sahfee, his wife and six of their innocent children were brutally killed,” the official said.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, said it was investigating the claim.
Civilian casualties are a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and have often roiled relations between Karzai and the United States, which leads NATO forces in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Karzai, who signed a long-term strategic pact with US President Barack Obama this month, argues that civilian deaths caused by allied troops turn common Afghans against his Western-backed government. He has also warned that such casualties threaten the pact with the US. afp
* Afghan president orders investigation
* ISAF says it is looking into the incident
KABUL: A NATO air strike killed a family of eight, including six children, when it hit their home in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said on Sunday.
President Hamid Karzai, who is a fierce critic of civilian deaths attributed to NATO forces, immediately ordered an investigation into Saturday night’s incident in Paktia province, his office said in a statement.
“Eight people, a man, his wife and six of their children, are dead,” local government spokesman Rohullah Samoon told AFP.
“It was an air strike conducted by NATO. This man had no connection to the Taliban or any other terrorist group.”
A senior security official in Kabul confirmed the strike and deaths.
“It’s true. A house was bombed by NATO. A man named Mohammad Sahfee, his wife and six of their innocent children were brutally killed,” the official said.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, said it was investigating the claim.
Civilian casualties are a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and have often roiled relations between Karzai and the United States, which leads NATO forces in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Karzai, who signed a long-term strategic pact with US President Barack Obama this month, argues that civilian deaths caused by allied troops turn common Afghans against his Western-backed government. He has also warned that such casualties threaten the pact with the US. afp