The US military said yesterday at least 20 civilians and 60 insurgents may have died in a disputed US-Taliban clash earlier this month, refuting the Afghan government’s assertion that 140 civilians were killed.
In Kabul, meanwhile, a US service member was killed in a roadside bomb attack, the military said.
Preliminary findings could not conclusively determine the number of people killed during the May 4 to May 5 battle in Bala Buluk district of western Farah Province, the US military said in a statement.
PHOTO: AP
The clash has soured already tense relations between the US military and the Afghan government. In an attempt to soothe these relations, America’s top envoy in Afghanistan joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday in extending their condolences to the families of the victims near the site of the battle.
The US military statement said its aircraft destroyed several rural buildings where insurgents were regrouping after the fight, in which some 300 militants had participated.
Colonel Greg Julian, the chief US military spokesman, said eight buildings were targeted, and 13 missiles were fired from US military aircraft during the battle.
“The investigation team estimates that 60 to 65 Taliban extremists were killed in these engagements, while at least 20 to 30 civilians may have been killed during the fighting,” the statement said.
“A review of the physical evidence is inconclusive in determining the exact number of civilian and insurgent casualties,” it said.
Karzai has long pleaded with the US to minimize civilian deaths during its military operations and not use airstrikes in villages.
He said civilian deaths at the hands of foreign troops erode support for the fight against the Taliban, who have made a comeback after they were ousted in the US-led invasion in 2001.
On Tuesday, Karzai urged the US to distinguish between villagers and militants.
“All those people who wear a turban and have local clothes are not Taliban,” Karzai told the gathering. US troops “should cut down bombardment on them,” he said.
Afghans blame US airstrikes for the deaths and destruction in two villages in Bala Buluk, but it is unclear exactly how many people died there and under what circumstances.
Eight more Afghan civilians are believed to have been killed when NATO-led troops under attack in southern Afghanistan called in an air strike, the alliance said yesterday.
Soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) came under attack from about 25 insurgents in the province of Helmand on Tuesday and were forced to call in the strike, ISAF said in a statement.
“Tragically, it is believed that eight civilians were killed as a result of the air strike,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Afghan army killed 25 Taliban insurgents, including two commanders, in an operation to wrest back an area of southern Afghanistan from rebel control, a general said yesterday.
Heavy fighting has dogged the insurgent stronghold and opium-producing area in Helmand Province for days, with security forces saying that they killed 25 Taliban there nearly there a week ago.
Afghan troops backed by US-led forces went on the offensive in the Marja area, about 40km from the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, Helmand army commander General Mohaidin Ghori said.
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