The U.S. military bombed the village of Buz-e Kandahari in Kunduz Province in November 2016. (Photo: DVIDSHUB/flickr/cc)
Jan 12, 2017
A U.S. military bombing in Kunduz Province last year killed 33 civilians and wounded 27 others, according to a military investigation that concluded on Thursday.
The bombing was not the same one that struck a Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in October 2015, which the human rights group said amounted to a war crime, but was part of a firefight waged by American forces during an Afghan operation to arrest Taliban commanders in Buz-e Kandahari in Kunduz in November of last year.
Afghan forces reportedly requested the bombing during the raid. The report concluded that the U.S. military had acted in self-defense.
A province official told the Associated Press that the death toll was actually much higher.
"More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed in the Afghan and U.S. forces' attack in Buz-e Kandahari," said Toryalia Kakar, a deputy provincial council member.
Kakar also disputed the military report's claim that the airstrikes had killed 26 Taliban fighters, saying it was no more than 10. He urged the U.S. military to compensate families of the civilian victims.
Two U.S. soldiers and three Afghani commandos were also killed in the firefight, the report stated.
Among the injured was Mohammad Reza, who was injured when his house was bombed in the November 4 airstrikes. He told the New York Times that when villagers left their shelters to collect the victims, they were targeted again by jet planes and gunships.
"We left the dead bodies and escaped from the area," he said at the time. "I lost my four nephews, my father and my brother in the bombing. My wife, my brother's wife, my mother, and my son were injured in the airstrike on my house."
The investigation concludes after a separate report, issued last week by the Council of Foreign Relations, found that the U.S. bombed Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen roughly three times an hour in 2016.
In President Barack Obama's last year in office, the U.S. dropped a total of 26,171 bombs in seven countries, the report stated, with the warning that estimates were "undoubtedly low."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
A U.S. military bombing in Kunduz Province last year killed 33 civilians and wounded 27 others, according to a military investigation that concluded on Thursday.
The bombing was not the same one that struck a Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in October 2015, which the human rights group said amounted to a war crime, but was part of a firefight waged by American forces during an Afghan operation to arrest Taliban commanders in Buz-e Kandahari in Kunduz in November of last year.
Afghan forces reportedly requested the bombing during the raid. The report concluded that the U.S. military had acted in self-defense.
A province official told the Associated Press that the death toll was actually much higher.
"More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed in the Afghan and U.S. forces' attack in Buz-e Kandahari," said Toryalia Kakar, a deputy provincial council member.
Kakar also disputed the military report's claim that the airstrikes had killed 26 Taliban fighters, saying it was no more than 10. He urged the U.S. military to compensate families of the civilian victims.
Two U.S. soldiers and three Afghani commandos were also killed in the firefight, the report stated.
Among the injured was Mohammad Reza, who was injured when his house was bombed in the November 4 airstrikes. He told the New York Times that when villagers left their shelters to collect the victims, they were targeted again by jet planes and gunships.
"We left the dead bodies and escaped from the area," he said at the time. "I lost my four nephews, my father and my brother in the bombing. My wife, my brother's wife, my mother, and my son were injured in the airstrike on my house."
The investigation concludes after a separate report, issued last week by the Council of Foreign Relations, found that the U.S. bombed Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen roughly three times an hour in 2016.
In President Barack Obama's last year in office, the U.S. dropped a total of 26,171 bombs in seven countries, the report stated, with the warning that estimates were "undoubtedly low."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
A U.S. military bombing in Kunduz Province last year killed 33 civilians and wounded 27 others, according to a military investigation that concluded on Thursday.
The bombing was not the same one that struck a Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in October 2015, which the human rights group said amounted to a war crime, but was part of a firefight waged by American forces during an Afghan operation to arrest Taliban commanders in Buz-e Kandahari in Kunduz in November of last year.
Afghan forces reportedly requested the bombing during the raid. The report concluded that the U.S. military had acted in self-defense.
A province official told the Associated Press that the death toll was actually much higher.
"More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed in the Afghan and U.S. forces' attack in Buz-e Kandahari," said Toryalia Kakar, a deputy provincial council member.
Kakar also disputed the military report's claim that the airstrikes had killed 26 Taliban fighters, saying it was no more than 10. He urged the U.S. military to compensate families of the civilian victims.
Two U.S. soldiers and three Afghani commandos were also killed in the firefight, the report stated.
Among the injured was Mohammad Reza, who was injured when his house was bombed in the November 4 airstrikes. He told the New York Times that when villagers left their shelters to collect the victims, they were targeted again by jet planes and gunships.
"We left the dead bodies and escaped from the area," he said at the time. "I lost my four nephews, my father and my brother in the bombing. My wife, my brother's wife, my mother, and my son were injured in the airstrike on my house."
The investigation concludes after a separate report, issued last week by the Council of Foreign Relations, found that the U.S. bombed Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen roughly three times an hour in 2016.
In President Barack Obama's last year in office, the U.S. dropped a total of 26,171 bombs in seven countries, the report stated, with the warning that estimates were "undoubtedly low."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.