Afghan civilians caught in crossfire - Casualties could undermine allies

Afghan civilians caught in crossfire - Casualties could undermine allies
By Kim Barker
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published July 8, 2007


KABUL, Afghanistan — The men told the same story, of how foreign troops bombed their villages long after the Taliban fighters had left, how the bombs killed women and children, goats and sheep, and how if they had one wish, it would be for the foreigners to leave.

One man said 60 civilians had been killed in the air strike June 29 in a village in southern Helmand province, one of the most remote and dangerous areas of Afghanistan. Another villager, likely a Taliban sympathizer, exaggerated that as many as 500 innocent people had died, according to video of the bomb's aftermath provided by Ariana TV station, one of the few media outlets to visit the insurgent stronghold.

"Our children are being killed," said Abdul Qader, who said he lost at least seven family members. "Our homes are being destroyed. We are bombed. They destroy us and they kill us. What should we do?"

The air strike, near the village of Hyderabad, came after fighting between the Taliban and Afghan soldiers supported by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The video showed shrapnel-riddled tractors and mangled cars and homes that looked like piles of crushed crackers.

Such bombings and the allegations of civilian casualties, exaggerated or not, are now the biggest challenge facing foreign forces trying to prop up Afghanistan's government. More than any suicide bombing or insurgent offensive, this issue has the potential to undermine foreign troops and ultimately hurt the NATO mission in Afghanistan, Western diplomats and Afghan officials say.

In interview after interview, ordinary Afghans say they increasingly distrust NATO's motives and increasingly blame their government for failing to stem civilian casualties.

A recent United Nations report said 593 Afghan civilians have been killed by violence linked to insurgents this year. But more of those deaths—314—were caused by international or Afghan security forces than by insurgents, who caused 279 deaths. The number does not include the civilians who may have died in the Hyderabad fighting.

Most of the insurgents' victims were bystanders of suicide bombings, while most civilian deaths from Afghan and Western troops were casualties from combat operations

NATO officials say they always try to protect civilians and are increasing their efforts. They caution that any numbers are not necessarily accurate. Determining whether a corpse is a Taliban fighter or a farmer is not an exact science—there are no Taliban uniforms, no roster. Often, only children or women are certain to be civilians. And some of these areas are simply too dangerous to do a thorough investigation.

Officials also say any civilian deaths are not intentional and are always regretted.

"What we've all been saying in recent days—every ISAF soldier, every service person—is that we have to understand we are guests, and that's a status that's hard won in a country like Afghanistan and it's a status we'd like to keep," said Nicholas Lunt, the chief NATO civilian spokesman in Afghanistan. "And clearly, civilian casualties is an issue that could put that status at risk."

ISAF troops have made mistakes — shooting civilians after roadside bombings or when cars get too close to military convoys. But Taliban-led insurgents are targeting civilians to try to drive a wedge between average Afghans and international troops, military and Afghan officials said. Insurgents now deliberately attack from civilian areas, even hoping to draw fire, officials said.

A recent memo from the NATO commander in Afghanistan to lower-level military commanders reminded them of the need to protect civilians at all times and to use force with discretion, two NATO officials said. Another recent directive established a new policy in searching Afghan homes, long a sore spot with Afghans, according to a UN official and a military official. In the future, searches will need to be justified by more than just one piece of intelligence, the officials said.

In terms of winning hearts and minds, the NATO mission has a lot of ground to make up.

In the past few months, reports of civilian casualties have emerged every few days. At least 19 civilians were killed March 4 when U.S. Marines, fleeing a bombing near the eastern city of Jalalabad, opened fire. On June 17, seven children were killed by a U.S.-led coalition air strike in southeastern Paktika province.

Ghulam Reza and Ashuqullah Wafa, workers at a Kabul salt factory, were shot June 16 on the street in front of their factory, near NATO troops investigating an earlier suicide bombing. Their friend, Azizullah Mawlawizada, was killed. Reza, Wafa, witnesses and police blamed Western troops.

"Sometimes we think they are trying to invade our country, that they just don't like us," said Reza, 28, who has 5 inches of stitches on his back and X-rays showing the bullet in his right side. "I saw them. They didn't care. Sometimes, it comes to my mind that I am Muslim and they are not. And that is why they shot me and that is why they don't care."

NATO spokesman Maj. John Thomas said there was no evidence of any shots being fired at the scene, especially by ISAF troops. But Col. Mangal Zalmai, the commander of the police district, blamed foreign forces for shooting the three men.

The anger against foreign troops has grown to the point that any report of civilian casualties, even by the notoriously unreliable Taliban, is treated as fact. In a speech June 23, after more than 100 civilians had allegedly been killed by Western forces in a week, President Hamid Karzai tapped into the emotions of Afghans and lashed out at NATO. "Afghan life is not cheap, and it should not be treated as such," Karzai said.

"There is a big hatred in the heart of our people against NATO already," said Haji Abdul Khaleq Mojahed, a parliament member from southern Uruzgan province, near the site of several bombings that allegedly killed civilians. "If it grows bigger and bigger, I don't know what will happen."

Last week, a government team including Mojahed visited Qaleragh and nearby villages to investigate claims of civilian casualties. In total, 78 civilians were killed in fighting between insurgents and Afghan and foreign troops, he said. Only 10 were killed by the Taliban, he said.

While Afghan and NATO officials take time to investigate claims of civilian casualties, Taliban representatives quickly get in touch with reporters to push their own, often inflated claims, officials said.

"The first reports grab the headlines, and there isn't a lot of interest in further investigation," Thomas said.

There's also a reluctance to publicly defend NATO. In May, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission spent a week investigating allegations that Afghan army and foreign troops had killed more than 55 civilians near the western town of Shindand. The commission found that fewer than half the victims were definitely civilians and that the force used was not indiscriminate. But that report has not yet been released in Afghanistan, primarily because of fears that Afghans won't like it and could retaliate.

A team of Afghan officials is now in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, investigating the recent bombing near Hyderabad, a Taliban hotbed where insurgents often are sheltered by villagers, officials said.

Right after the bombing, NATO officials said that fewer than a dozen people died, though they later acknowledged that could be low. The Taliban said 105 civilians had been killed. The government investigation results will not be released for days or even weeks.

By that point, the truth may not matter very much to Afghans. They have been conditioned to believe the worst.

kbarker@tribune.com