March 2, 2013

Two Afghan Boys Accidentally

Killed by NATO Helicopter
By ROD NORDLAND
KABUL, Afghanistan Two boys out collecting firewood with their donkeys
were killed by weapons fired from a NATO helicopter, Afghan and American
military officials announced Saturday.
The new American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.,
promptly issued an apology and said the killings were an accident.
The victims, Toor Jan, 11, and Andul Wodood, 12, were brothers and had been
walking behind their donkeys in the Shahed-e-Hasas district of Oruzgan
Province when the helicopter fired on them, according to Afghan officials in the
district. The two donkeys were killed as well.
General Dunford said that coalition forces had opened fire on what they thought
were insurgent forces, and killed the boys by accident. I offer my personal
apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed, General
Dunford said. We take full responsibility for this tragedy.
There was some disagreement about the presence of Taliban in the area and
about the details of the episode.
Haji Mohammad Esmail, head of the district shura or council, said the area was
fully under government control, and that we havent seen any engagement in
the area and nor is the area threatened by the Taliban.
Abdullah Himat, a spokesman for the provincial government in Oruzgan, in
southern Afghanistan, said that while the shooting was a mistake, there had been
Taliban presence in the area and insurgents had opened fire on the helicopter.
Both Australian and American soldiers were involved in the episode, he said.
Fareed Ayal, the spokesman for the provincial police chief, said the helicopter
was hunting for Taliban by tracking their radio signals when the killings took
place. There wasnt any engagement with the Taliban, it was just a mistake that
they have killed the two boys at an area where they thought they detected a
Taliban radio signal, he said.
The episode was the second airstrike to kill civilians since General Dunford
assumed command in February. In Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan, up
to 11 civilians were killed, including 5 children, when airstrikes were used to
destroy two homes.
That attack, which included Afghan forces on the ground, led President Hamid
Karzai to forbid Afghan units from asking for airstrikes by coalition air forces.
The Afghans have little air ability of their own.
General Dunford met with Mr. Karzai after the episode in Kunar and expressed
his personal condolences for the civilian deaths.
The coalition last year imposed strict rules limiting the use of airstrikes in areas
where civilians are present.
Taimoor Shah contributed reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan.