UN has evidence US killed 90 Afghans

The issue of civilian casualties has driven a rift between the Afghan government and its Nato supporters.

An Afghan boy look at police vehicle set on fire by protesters during a demonstration against the killing of civilian in an airstrike in Azizabad the village in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan, Saturday, Aug 23, 2008. The U.S.-led coalition said Saturday that it would investigate allegations of civilian deaths during the battle.
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KABUL // The United Nations said today it had found convincing evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by US-led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week. The issue of civilian casualties has driven a rift between the Afghan government and its Nato backers, with President Hamid Karzai saying earlier this month that air strikes had achieved nothing and had only succeeded in killing ordinary Afghans.

"Investigations by Unama (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement. The US military has launched an investigation into the incident, after first saying it was unaware of any civilian casualties in what it said was an air strike on a known Taliban commander that killed 30 militants.

The Afghan government ordered the review of operations by foreign forces yesterday amid mounting discontent over civilian casualties nearly seven years after US-led forces toppled the Taliban, the presidential spokesman said. He did not have a figure for civilian killed in foreign military operations, but said: "The patience of the Afghan people has ran out. We no longer can afford to see the killing of our children."

Unama said it sent its human rights team to the Shindand area to investigate the latest incident, meeting local officials, elders and villagers. "The destruction from aerial bombardment was clearly evident with some 7-8 houses having been totally destroyed and serious damage to many others," the UN statement said. "Local residents were able to confirm the number of casualties, including names, age and gender of the victims.

"This is matter of grave concern to the United Nations, I have repeatedly made clear that the safety and welfare of civilians must be considered above all else during the planning and conduct of all military operations," Mr Eide said. * Reuters