NATO Kills Six Civilians in Afghan Air Strike

Overnight Air Strike Called in After Taliban Clash

Another NATO air strike has killed a number of civilians today in the Logar Province. The attack, which took place shortly after midnight, came after a clash between NATO troops on the ground and Taliban in the Baraki Barak District, and left six civilians dead.

NATO confirmed the attack but said they could not confirm the death toll. They did, however, say foreign forces were “looking into the matter,” while insisting that NATO is taking every measure possible to prevent civilian deaths.

Every measure except for halting the bombing of civilian areas, of course. The latest attack came after the firefight with Taliban but was termed a “retaliation” attack. That the attack retaliated against a civilian home and killed an entire family appears to them only a minor detail.

The Afghan government has repeatedly demanded that NATO stop using air strikes against populated areas. Though the practice was reduced during Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s tenure as commander, it has repeatedly been escalated since his departure last year, and insisted that the Afghan demands were “not realistic.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.