Afghan Troops Mistakenly Kill Six Civilians in Night Raid

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.