An angry procession of civilians took to the streets of the Afghan city of Jalalabad today, demanding justice for the families of six civilians who were killed by Afghan security forces during a Friday night raid in the area.
The raid took place in Sherzad District, in Nangarhar Province, where
the military intended to kill Taliban fighters.This raid was in a
populated area, however, and when a group of six civilians tried to flee
the gunbattle that broke out, they became the military’s target.
According to a spokesman for the Nangarhar Province governor, the
military assumed the vehicle full of civilians were “Taliban fighters
trying to escape,” so they opened fire on them, killing six, including a
woman and two children.
Provincial officials say they believe 10 Taliban insurgents were slain
in the raid, in addition to the civilians. This led to another UN call
expressing concern about civilian casualties in combat, and warned
deliberate attacks on civilians could amount to war crimes.
Sounds like they are learning their lessons from their American war criminal advisers very well.