NATO Forces Kill 10 Afghan Civilians, Mostly Children

Deaths Come in Apparent US Raid in Kunar Province

by Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com, December 28, 2009

NATO forces engaged in a raid in the remote Kunar Province of Afghanistan killed at least 10 civilians, eight of them schoolchildren, according to numerous Afghan officials including President Hamid Karzai.

NATO officially denied having any information about any operations going on in Kunar, but western officials privately conceded that US special forces have been operating in the Taliban-heavy area. A spokesman for the NATO forces promised to “look into” the reports.

Provincial police could provide only sparse details about the killings, and said that a full investigation would take several days, owing to the difficulty in even traveling to the area of the incident. US officials have yet to comment at all.

Though the Taliban has established a growing presence in the province, Kunar has been comparatively ignored by international forces since this summer, when provincial officials accused a US soldier of throwing a hand grenade into a crowd of civilians in a marketplace. The grenade killed two people and injured 56 others.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• U.S. Account of Afghan Deaths at Odds With Head of Rights Group
• KABUL – NATO to send up to 10,000 troops in Afghanistan ahead of election
• US-led forces kill more Afghan civilians
• Afghans protest civilian casualties

Tags: Afghanistan, Jason Ditz, killings in Kunar province, NATO forces