Investigators say 132 civilians killed in Kunduz air strike

Zainab Muhammadi – Dec 16 (2009)

Only five out the 137 people killed in a September air strike by NATO forces in northern Kunduz province were Taliban while the rest were civilians, a joint investigation by a German committee and Kunduz provincial council members revealed on Wednesday.
The air strike that killed 137 people and wounded another 20 was carried out by American soldiers after German troops based in the province ordered the raid. The air raid came hours after Taliban fighters hijacked two fuel tanks in Chardara district on September 4.
Locals had said that the strike killed more than 150, but Afghan government officials citing an investigation put the death toll at 120, including 90 Taliban and 30 civilians, with nine others injured.
Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, an Afghan leader of the joint Afghan-German delegation Karim Popal rejected the numbers of the dead announced by Afghan government’s delegation.

He said the investigation carried out by his team through visiting house to house and meeting relatives of the victims with the help of provincial council members indicated that only five Taliban militants were among the dead while the rest were civilians.
Popal said according their probe the air strike killed 137 people. Twenty-two people went missing, 20 wounded, 91 women widowed and 163 children orphaned as a result of the bombing, he said.

- So ISAF killed 5 taliban. How many new ones will already have risen to avenge these civilian victims, in an ever-growing spiral of mutual retaliation ? For ‘revenge’ has been the primitive key-word in this long agony, ever since Bush Jr chose it as his leading principle after 9/11. -

(Popal said he had prepared a report he would send to the German defence ministry about the Kunduz incident. He said he had set a weeklong deadline for the ministry and if he received no answer, he would complain to the United Nations.
Popal said they were planning to provide a better future to these orphans and victims of the bombing instead of cash assistance.
He added their team would work on projects including treatment to the wounded, construction of schools and job opportunities to the dwellers of Chardara district. The government had also given cash assistance to the residents. Each family who lost family members was given 100,000afs (-2.000 USD-) while 80,000 afghanis (-1.600 USD-) to the wounded people, reports had said.
Popal said the aid requested from German government for Chardara residents would be directly delivered to the affected families.)

So there is no real war, rather an oversized militarized secret service operation, with the civil population as a hostage between the armies and the ever-increasing number of militants. And depending on our needs, we either tell them that we are here to protect them, to increase security, to stabilize the country, to introduce democracy, to rid the world of al-Qaeda (whom they thoroughly loathe) and other politically correct bullshit. However, when we are accused of prisoner abuse, then suddenly this is a country at war, which allows us to play it dirty.

i have more or less been saying this since practically when the war started. there is so much in this piece that needs to circulate. thank you for posting this.