KABUL: A NATO air strike killed at least 33 civilians, the Afghan government said today, in the third such mistaken bombing raid in Afghanistan in a week and forcing another apology from a top US commander.
Four women and a child were among the civilians killed yesterday when they were attacked after being mistaken for Taliban militants who are waging an eight-year insurgency to evict Western troops.
The top ground commander, US General Stanley McChrystal, apologised for the incident to President Hamid Karzai, who has repeatedly warned foreign and Afghan forces to take all measures possible to avoid harming civilians.
The air strike came days after NATO forces pressing a major offensive in the south killed at least nine Afghan civilians when a rocket slammed into a house -- for which McChrystal also apologised.
A statement from the decision-making council of ministers, which is chaired by Karzai, condemned the latest incident as "unjustifiable".
"Initial reports indicate that NATO fired Sunday on a convoy of three vehicles in Gujran district of the province of Daykundi, killing at least 33 civilians including four women and one child and injuring 12 others while they were on their way to Kandahar," the statement said.
Yesterday's incident was the third mistaken NATO air strike in Afghanistan reported by Afghan officials in a week.
Last Thursday, a NATO bombing raid in the northern province of Kunduz killed seven Afghan policemen, according to hospital and government officials.
http://newageislam.com/nato-air-strike-kills-33-afghan-civilians/islamic-world-news/d/2491
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4:44 AM
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