Saturday’s Afghan airstrike in Nimroz killed as many as 18 civilians. The military is still insisting everyone, including the women and children, were Taliban, but the Ghani government is trying to spin the event to be at least a bit less damning.
Ghani expressed regret for the civilian deaths, which came when the Afghan Air Force bombed their homes. He added that it’s really the Taliban’s fault for using houses too.
While Ghani insisted the Taliban use of houses is unacceptable, there is no real chance he’s going to get them to stop. It is also irrelevant to the casualties, since no Taliban were present at these strikes, and it appears only civilians were killed.
Trying to deflect blame for airstrikes against civilians by citing the people you meant to kill is a strategy the US often tried earlier in this war, and it never worked well for them either.
Taliban today unlike Taliban we sent from Pakistan to Afghanistan who were actually Students — are fighters from Afghan tribes.
So, they actually live AT HOME unless called to fight. This was a DELIBERATE murder, targeting some families. Afghan government knows exactly who is living where.
But they are sawing whirlwind. American power will not be there to protect them forever.
The question is — will the government and tribes compromise, or will the government eventually have to flee. With acts like this—some in the government may have to find a new homeland.