Afghan Airstrikes Kill at Least 12 Civilians in Faryab

Afghan DM promises investigation, denies any deaths

Afghan warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes against the northern Faryab Province on Saturday. The military claimed that the Taliban were targeted, and 47 of them were killed.

Local officials, however, say that civilians were killed in the strikes, with the destruction of a number of houses. They said that at least 12 civilians were killed in the strikes, in addition to combatants.

The Afghan Defense Ministry, however, doesn’t seem to be accepting those local reports, and while promising an investigation they say that they don’t believe any civilians were killed at all in the attack.

It is not unusual for the military and ministries to reject reports from local officials. They are very keen to insist everything went fine, but the local political figures face pressure from residents to make the reality of what happened public.

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.