US Strikes in Afghanistan Kill Dozens of Civilians

FEATURING BRETT WILKINS – US air strikes in Afghanistan have killed at least 30 civilians in Helmand province. The airstrikes are part of a US push to more aggressively attack Taliban forces on the ground that have made headway. According to the Guardian newspaper, “Afghanistan’s Nato-led force said Afghan government forces and US advisers came under fire from Taliban fighters in a compound in Garmsir district and called in an air strike. But the ground forces were not aware of any civilians in or near the compound.”

One survivor of the attack said that there were 16 children among the dead. Another said that there were still bodies buried under the rubble which may increase the death toll.

The US strikes come just days after a major suicide attack in the capitol, Kabul killed 5 British staffers with a private security firm and a separate bombing in Ghazni killed 3 US soldiers. The UN has estimated that there were more civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first 9 months of this year than at anytime since 2009.

Brett Wilkins is a San Francisco-based freelance author and editor-at-large for US news at Digital Journal. His work focuses on issues of war and peace and human rights.