Civilian killings on the rise in Afghanistan

The recent rise in the civilian casualties close to Pakistan’s border as well as inside Afghanistan, has infuriated the ordinary, peace-loving people of these areas who now want a complete end not only to the US airstrikes but also to militants’ attacks causing these casualties, the latest evidence of which has come in the form of the killing of at least 60 civilians in the Resolute Support airstrike in Afghan province of Kunduz during the night falling on November 3 last. 

According to authentic reports coming from Afghanistan, based on information given by a senior official of the northern Afghan province of Kunduz and residents of the area, at least 60 civilians have been killed in this recent strike which is yet another errant US airstrike, among others, conducted in recent years in this area that has turned into a fierce battleground. 

The airstrikes in Kunduz Friday night targeted three villages in Chardara, a district west of the provincial capital where Taliban fighters have long maintained a strong presence. 

With the situation in this region assuming such an alarming proportion; International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced taking up the investigation of crimes allegedly committed by all sides including the US forces, CIA, Taliban and Afghan military. 

Further pieces of information reveal that Afghan security forces prevented access to the bomb sites in Essa Khil, Qatl-e Aam and Uzbek Bazaar, barring relatives from picking up bodies and hindering a precise assessment of the toll, simultaneously denying the claims made by locals that scores of civilians had been killed in the strikes. 

A provincial council member, Khosh Mohammad Nasratyar, estimated that around 55 civilians had been killed while an Afghan aid worker in the area, who asked not to be named, said at least 40 had been killed, including several women and children. The New York Times, citing residents and officials in the area, Afghanistan, Captain Tom Gresback, said the US forces were looking into the allegations of civilian casualties but declined to say more about the operation, which he said was “ongoing”. 

American and Afghan forces had been carrying out operations in the area for several days, but residents said aerial attacks intensified Friday night with jets, bombers and drones crossing the sky incessantly. 

Residents said the bombings shook windows in the provincial capital and seemed worse than similar strikes in 2015, when coalition and Afghan forces battled the Taliban for two weeks inside the city. 

In yet another development, a minor boy lost his life and two other children were injured when a landmine exploded in the Tiyazara area of South Waziristan Agency Saturday.

One child Shahzeb died on the spot while the others were admitted to a hospital in injured condition. According to residents of the area, the militants had planted the explosive devices to hamper the movement of security forces in the area.

Incident of recent killing of an innocent woman and injuring of another woman in a blast caused by landmine planted by militants in the troubled region, have also come to the fore Sunday.