We Are Losing the Battle for “Hearts & Minds”
More Afgan Civilians Killed in Air Strikes
Barry Bearak & Taimoor Shah, New York Times
In what has become a dolefully familiar episode, local Afghan officials reported Saturday that dozens of civilians, and perhaps a great many more, were killed during United States-led coalition airstrikes, this time in the Grishk district of the southern province of Helmand, where dozens of civilians died under similar circumstances last week.
Contacted by telephone, the mayor of Grishk, Dor Ali Shah, and tribal elders said the allied bombardment began late Friday and continued Saturday, coming soon after insurgents had attacked coalition ground forces.
“We have received differing numbers of the civilian and the militants’ casualties,” the mayor said. “We sent delegates to the site, but the area was surrounded by coalition forces. Some sources tell us the number of civilian dead is 120, others say 60, others say 35. We are actually mixed up, so we will wait to confirm.”
Haji Zahir, a tribal elder who said he had been in touch with residents of effected villages, said: “People tried to escape from the area with their cars, trucks and tractors, and the coalition airplanes bombed them because they thought they were the enemy fleeing. They told me that they had buried 170 bodies so far.” Click here to read more in the New York Times.