- Note - Projections from groups which have studied the
US war in Afghanistan suggest the numbers of Afghan civilian deaths exceeds
5,000 to date. -ed
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-
- (AFP) - The US air campaign to dislodge al-Qaeda and
the Taliban in Afghanistan has claimed hundreds of civilian lives through
a tragic pattern of mistakes, the New York Times reported.
The report was based on reviews conducted over a six-month period of 11
locations where airstrikes killed as many as 400 civilians.
The reviews found that even when genuine military targets were identifed,
civilians were sometimes killed as a result of the Pentagon's use of overwhelming
force.
Pentagon officials say their strategy has shifted in recent months to increased
use of ground forces to hunt down remaining fighters for the Taliban and
al-Qaeda, but that continuing airstrikes still often have tragic consequences,
according to the Times.
The report follows a controversial US attack this month on villages in
Oruzgan Province, where airstrikes killed at least 54 civilians.
American commanders however rejected the notion that they may be relying
too heavily on air power.
"We painstakingly assess the potential for injuring civilians or damaging
civilian facilities, and positively identify targets before striking,"
said Colonel Ray Shepherd, spokesman for the US Central Command in Tampa,
Florida.
Afghan officials are beginning to demand a greater say in the choice of
US targets, the Times reported.
"We have to be given a larger role," Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan
foreign minister, said in an interview with the newspaper.
"If things do not improve, well, I will certainly pray for the Americans
and wish them success, but I will no longer be able to take part in this."
Meanwhile, field workers with Global Exchange, an American organization
that has sent survey teams into Afghan villages, told the Times they have
compiled a list of 812 Afghan civilians who were killed by American airstrikes.
The Global Exchange workers said they expect that number to grow as their
survey teams reach more remote villages.
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