Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Afghan Holds Shirt of Child Killed by U.S. Airstrike, western Herat province (photo: Jalil Rezayee, EPA)
Still struggling to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan, NATO commanders are considering ways to award coalition forces for not killing Afghans. While not disclosing whether the plan would entail a new kind of medal, high-ranking officials said they intend to recognize soldiers who exhibit “courageous restraint” while operating in combat conditions.
News of the novel idea comes shortly after another deadly encounter between U.S. troops and locals, in which soldiers fired at a civilian bus near Kandahar City, killing four people and wounding more than a dozen. The incident provoked yet another protest against the U.S., with chants of “Death to America.”
The Afghanistan Interior Ministry said civilian killings from March 21 to April 21 were up 33% from the same period in 2009. The death toll was reported as 173. Not all the fatalities were blamed on coalition forces.
During 2009, more than 2,400 Afghan civilians were killed in fighting, an increase of 14% from 2008, according to United Nations’ figures cited by the Associated Press.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
New NATO Idea to Avoid Killing Innocent Afghans (by Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press)
Honoring Courageous Restraint (International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan)
Restraint the New Tactic for UK Troops in Afghanistan (by Caroline Wyatt, BBC News)
NATO Admits U.S. Forces Killed Innocent Pregnant Women in Afghanistan (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Afghan Civilian Deaths Average 6 a Day; Most Killed by Insurgents (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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