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39 Afghani Civilians Killed in a US Air Strike, 16 Soldiers and Policemen Killed by Taliban in Two Attacks

October 9, 2019

 

A boy extracts raw opium from poppy buds in Afghanistan

UN: U.S. Air Strikes On Alleged Afghan Drug Labs Causes 39 Civilian Casualties

October 09, 2019

A United Nations report says it has determined that 30 civilians were killed in U.S. air strikes on alleged drug-processing facilities in western Afghanistan four months ago.

The report published on October 9 said that five civilians were also wounded in air strikes on more than 60 sites. which U.S. forces identified as drug-production facilities in the Bakwa and neighboring Delaram districts.

UNAMA verified four additional civilian casualties but is still seeking to determine their current status as injured or killed, according to the document jointly produced by the UN mission and the UN Human Rights Office.

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) immediately disputed the findings, insisting that its "precision" strikes in Farah and Nimroz provinces on May 5 "did not cause deaths or injuries to non-combatants."

"In addition to imagery collection during the precision strikes, USFOR-A conducted exhaustive assessments of the facilities and surrounding areas after the strikes," it said in a statement.

In a statement, UNAMA said it was also working to verify "credible reports of at least 37 additional civilian casualties, the majority of whom were women and children."

"Although airstrikes on alleged drug-processing facilities had taken place before, this was the first time that UNAMA had received reports of a large number of civilian casualties resulting from such an operation," it said.

The statement also said that although the United States considers economic facilities that contribute to the war effort as legitimate military targets, drug-processing units and workers associated with them "may not be lawfully made the target of attack and should be protected."

"The United Nations maintains that considering these objects and individuals legitimate targets dangerously erodes the fundamental principle of distinction, placing the broader civilian population and infrastructure at risk," it said.

Civilians bear the brunt of the 18-year war in Afghanistan, where 1,366 civilians have been killed and 2,446 others have been wounded in the first six months of the year, according to UNAMA.

With reporting by AFP and dpa

https://www.rferl.org/a/un-u-s-air-strikes-afghan-drug-labs-civilian-casualties/30207417.html

Ten Killed In Blast In Eastern Afghanistan

October 07, 2019 13:37 GMT

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

At least 10 civilians, including a child, were killed after explosives placed in a rickshaw blew up next to a bus carrying Afghan army recruits in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province, an official said on October 7.

Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said 27 other people were wounded in the attack in the local capital, Jalalabad.

Khogyani said those wounded, some of them in critical condition, had been transported to the hospital.

No group has claimed the attack. Both the Islamic State militant group and the Taliban are active in Nangarhar.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 1,366 civilians were killed and 2,446 others wounded this year up to June 30.

A child rights group said that every single child born and raised in Afghanistan in the past 18 years has experienced and been affected by war and conflict.

The Save the Children statement was issued on the day marking 18 years since the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

According to the statement, "an estimated 20 million children wake up every day in fear of gunshots or bombs and being killed or maimed in their streets, schools or homes."

The statement said 12,500 children were either killed or maimed between 2015 and 2018, and 3.7 million children -- 60 percent of them girls -- are out of school, with 3.8 million children in need of humanitarian assistance.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

Taliban Militants Kill Six Afghan Police At Remote Checkpoint Northeast Of Kabul

RFE, October 05, 2019

Taliban fighters have killed six Afghan police officers at a checkpoint in the province of Kapisa to the northeast of Kabul, Afghan officials say.
According to provincial councilors Mohammad Hussain Sanjani and Mohammd Mahfooz Safi, three police officers were also wounded during the Taliban's overnight attack in the remote Nejrab district.

They said the Taliban had established a presence in part of Nejrab district and occasionally attack checkpoints there.
Meanwhile, the police chief for Zareh district in the northern Balkh Province died on the evening of October 4 from injuries he sustained in a recent Taliban attack.
The attacks came as Taliban negotiators announced that they met in Islamabad with Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan, for the first time since President Donald Trump in September called the peace process "dead."

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

https://www.rferl.org/a/taliban-militants-kill-six-afghan-police-at-remote-checkpoint-northeast-of-kabul/30200758.html

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