Reuters and AFP have both reported that civilians were killed in action by the “foreign forces” in Afghanistan on Tuesday. The foreign forces of course are further identified as “the U.S. led coalition” who knew of only “rebel” deaths and was unaware of any other casualties. Military spokesman Major Chris Belcher had the following to say;
There were enemy casualties in (the) operation last night -- I don't have an exact number..(emphasis, mine)
I am with the Major on this one and here is why.
Depending on whether you read the AFP report or Reuters there appear to be both differences and similarities. In the way of differences, Reuters headline screams that witnesses report 40 civilians were killed while AFP says at least 20 were dead.
AFP uses a source named only “Noorullah” who says at least “30, women and children” are dead. Now, it may just be me but that name is fairly common in Afghanistan and perhaps it’s this guy, now in a Taliban “embed” role. Furthermore, it is not clear by reading the article how we get to their headline identifying 20 dead, but I digress. Overall, I will wait for the AFP follow up story which actually tracks down their source and validates his existence and claims before believing any of this. Can you say Jamil Hussein redux?
The Reuters headline indicating 40 are dead is never clarified. The only quote attempting to substantiate civilian deaths is from the Helmand Province Governor who claims 21 people including “women and children” were killed. It is not clear how that information was proven to be true. However, the Governor is quoted further down in the article as saying that Taliban hid in civilian homes during the engagement and are responsible for the deaths.
The similarities? A rush to declare “women and children” were killed, saying they were killed by “foreign forces” and unsubstantiated quotes including how foreign forces are “killing Afghans every day” and in the case of Reuters a quote denying the Taliban were even involved.
In response ISAF issued the following response;
Contrary to some press reports, International Security Assistance Force is unaware, at this time, of any NATO air strikes resulting in civilian casualties over the past 24 hours.
Just a concluding note to Reuters and AFP; the mission in Afghanistan is led by ISAF under UN mandate with about 35 countries participating. So next time skip the “foreign forces” nomenclature.
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