The U.S. Central Command team investigating a controversial airstrike in Farah province, Afghanistan, has determined that 20 to 30 civilians were killed in the fighting along with 60 to 65 Taliban militants, officials say. Afghan leaders contend more than 100 civilians were killed.
Weapon-sight video from the aircraft involved clearly shows insurgents entering buildings that were targeted in the final strikes of the fight that began May 4 to rescue Afghan forces in Bala Baluk district in western Afghanistan, according to a U.S. Forces–Afghanistan news release.
"Combined with audio recordings from the ground commander and air crew conversations, the investigators were able to confirm that the insurgents fleeing from the firefight were regrouping in several small rural buildings which were then subsequently destroyed," the release stated.
The team’s review of the physical evidence was inconclusive in determining the exact number of civilian and insurgent casualties. The members are attempting to identify more accurate casualty numbers.
The investigation team will release a final report later, said Col. Greg Julian, the head U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.
The timing of that report’s release will be up to the team leader. Julian did not know the name or rank of the ground commander.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, an airstrike by International Security Assistance Forces in Nawa in Helmand province is thought to have killed eight civilians, according to an ISAF news release. ISAF was not disclosing the countries involved in the incident as of Wednesday night.
In the May 4 incident, the encounter began to take shape the day before the attack when a large number of Taliban fighters, including non-Afghans, converged on Ganj Abad and Garani villages to demand money from locals, the release stated. Afghan and coalition soldiers said they saw at least 300 villagers leave the area before the fighting started. Villagers told New York-based Human Rights Watch that the fighters wanted a share of the village’s poppy income.
Afghan officials said the Taliban had executed three former Afghan government officials, according to the U.S. release. The Afghan army and Afghan National Police conducted a joint operation into the area the day of the attack to drive out the Taliban. Between 200 and 300 enemy fighters ambushed the police as they approached the village of Garani. Two police died in the initial ambush. A total of five ANP officers were killed during the battle.
"Outmanned and outgunned the Provincial Governor requested the Coalition Quick Reaction Force," the release stated.
Coalition forces arrived and, with Afghan army soldiers, tried to help the police. But the Taliban attacked them. A U.S. Navy corpsman was shot in the shoulder while attempting to rescue a wounded Afghan soldier, and an ANA soldier was shot in the chest as he attempted to charge a Taliban position.
Coalition forces called for close air support from F-18s to suppress enemy fire from nearby buildings in order to rescue the fallen Afghan first sergeant who was trapped by heavy Taliban machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The Afghan and American soldiers then rushed forward, placed the first sergeant on a stretcher and carried him to safety.
The Afghan soldier was medically evacuated and is expected to make a full recovery, the release said.
Afterward, a B-1 bomber worked with the ground commander to fire on buildings and a tree grove where the insurgents were firing from or massing in. The forces remained in the area until the next morning and saw the villagers returning after the fighting stopped.
During the fight, aircraft used a variety of laser- and GPS-guided bombs, ranging from 500 pounds to 2,000 pounds, Julian said.
"We regret the loss of any civilian life and express our condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this fighting with insurgents firing from and regrouping in villagers’ homes," Julian was quoted as saying in a news release. "We continue to work closely with the Afghan National Security Forces to bring security and progress to Afghanistan, and to do everything we can to avoid civilian casualties. We strongly condemn the Taliban for their brutality in deliberately targeting and using civilians as human shields."
The report’s conclusions differ sharply from the outraged accusations in other corners. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for the United States to cease airstrikes. American officials expressed condolences for the dead civilians but refused to halt airstrikes.
Much of the difference lies in the perception of Taliban tactics. Military leaders blame enemy fighters’ use of so-called human shields. But Human Rights Watch said this is contradicted by most of the accounts that villagers provided to the organization for its own report. Those preliminary findings were announced May 14.
Meanwhile, an Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission report concluded that the bombing killed between 90 and 100 people — substantially fewer than the 140 civilians, including 95 children, Afghan officials initially said were killed.
Julian said the Taliban fighters hid behind noncombatants. He called the Taliban’s tactics more "human sacrifice" than "human shield" because they did not try to use the civilians to stop coalition forces from attacking.
Instead, they wanted civilian casualties to "create a civilian crisis." He said a militant forced a village elder to take the bodies to the provincial governor to tarnish the coalition’s image.
In Tuesday’s Helmand province incident, about 25 insurgents attacked the ISAF troops. The troops called for close air support when they couldn’t withdraw, and an aircraft dropped "one piece of ordnance," ending the engagement, according to the ISAF release.
The ISAF soldiers did not know the insurgents were using civilians as human shields, and the airstrike would not have happened if they had known, the release said.
ISAF is investigating the incident jointly with Afghan authorities. The Helmand governor has also been notified.
