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Afghan civilians once again victims of U.S. air strike
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HERAT, Afghanistan – After claiming that its air strike had killed an important rebel commander and many of his men, the U.S.-led coalition confirmed that the attack actually killed a number of civilians instead.
Ghulam Yahya Akbari, the apparent target of the attack was unhurt, although he did acknowledge two of his men, along with a local mechanic, were killed in the raid on the Gozara district village of Karez Sultan.
In addition, 13 nomads, including six women and two children, reportedly were killed in the attack.
Coalition spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthews expressed regret for the loss of civilians.
“Our hearts go out to those affected by the recent operation in Herat,” Matthews said. “We want to fight the enemies of Afghanistan, without creating enemies among those we are here to help and whose lives we are dedicated to improving.” Civilian casualties are an extremely sensitive issue in Afghanistan, causing anger among the population and tension with the Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai has become increasingly outspoken in his criticism of foreign troops, whom, he says, carry out their operations without sufficient coordination with the Afghan government.
This is hardly the first time that coalition claims of successful attacks on insurgent targets have proved to be false.
Indeed, several high-profile incidents last year undermined the credibility of the international forces in reporting civilian casualties. First came an attack in July in Nangarhar province that killed 47 members of a wedding party, including the bride.
In August, a bombing in Herat province left more than 90 civilians dead, according to the United Nations and the Afghan government.
In both instances, the international forces claimed to have targeted and killed only militants. Only after those reports were challenged did military officials concede that many of the dead were actually civilians.
The United Nations issued a report earlier this month noting that that civilian casualties were up nearly 40 percent in 2008 over the previous year. While the majority of the deaths were said to have been caused by insurgents, approximately 40 percent of those slain were killed either by foreign troops or Afghan government forces.
In this latest incident, the coalition forces apparently were targeting Yahya, who has been waging his own private war against the Afghan government and foreign forces for close to two years.
Yahya is a controversial figure with a long and colorful history in Herat. During the civil war in the 1990s, when he served as mayor of Herat, Yahya earned a reputation for honesty and brutality in almost equal measure. After the Taliban came to power, he fled to Iran only to return to fight the extremists.
After falling out with the current leadership in Kabul, however, he retreated to his native Gozara district, where he is revered by some and feared by many.
While he has been linked with various insurgent groups, Yahya insists he is operating on his own. And although coalition forces claim they’ve been unable to track him down, Yahya is easily accessible to reporters, who frequently call him on his mobile phone to arrange interviews.
“They think I will be afraid after their air strike, but that it not true,” Yahya said in an interview after the attack. “I will fight against them even if I have only one man left."
SHAPOOR SABER AND JEAN MACKENZIE
The Institute for War & Peace Reporting