US Bombing Kills
Afghan
Villagers
By
Declan Walsh in Islamabad
The Guardian - UK
7-5-5
- A second American soldier stranded in Afghanistan's
eastern mountains was close to safety yesterday as his superiors
admitted that civilians died in a "precision" US bombing raid as part of
the rescue mission.
-
- After parrying questions for days about last Friday's
air strike against a village in Kunar province, the US military said in
a statement that both "enemy terrorists" and civilians had been killed,
and expressed regret. It gave no casualty estimates.
-
- But the Kunar governor, Asadullah Wafa, said 17
villagers, including women and children, had died - news that may
further inflame Afghan sensitivities about heavy-handed US
tactics.
-
- The bombing was part of a troubled operation to rescue
a small team of navy seals - special forces troops trained to operate
behind enemy lines - who called for help after coming under attack a
week ago.
-
- On Sunday one soldier from the team, which is believed
to be four strong, was rescued by US forces and flown to Germany for
medical treatment, according to media reports. A second wounded soldier
was found yesterday by Afghans and was sheltering in a house in a remote
part, Mr Wafa said.
-
- "Villagers have him and are treating him for wounds.
But the soldier has not been handed over as yet," he told Reuters. "Our
troops are trying to reach the place. He is safe and there is no danger
to his life. This is a very difficult terrain: big trees and
mountains."
-
- Last night, however, a US defence department official
disputed the claim of a second survivor, telling the New York Times that
Mr Wafa had been mistakenly referring to the soldier rescued at the
weekend. "What we have here is a time lag in the reporting," he
said
-
- The US military shifted some of the blame for the
civilian deaths on to the insurgents. "When enemy forces move their
families into the locations where they conduct terrorist operations,
they put these innocent civilians at risk," a spokesman said.
-
- There was no word of the other two seals last night as
hundreds of US and Afghan troops combed the area. "We hold every hope
for those who are still missing," said Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O'Hara,
a military spokesman in Kabul.
-
- Last week a Taliban spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi,
claimed that insurgents had killed six US soldiers and taken a seventh
hostage, but he has failed to provide promised proof of the
abduction.
-
- The rescue mission has proved America's most costly
since toppling the Taliban in 2001. A helicopter sent to pull out the
reconnaissance patrol last Tuesday was shot down, apparently by a
Taliban-fired rocket-propelled grenade, killing all 16 soldiers on
board.
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2005
-
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1521426,00.html
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