KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 19 October 2006 — NATO airstrikes in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province killed nine civilians and wounded 11 others yesterday, the provincial governor said. NATO said an operation was believed to have caused “several” civilian casualties. The strike in Zhari district hit three houses, said Gov. Asadullah Khalid. He said an unknown number of Taleban militants were also killed. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said it regretted any civilian casualties and that it makes “every effort” to minimize the risk of collateral damage during operations.
Also yesterday, a rocket hit a house during a nighttime clash between suspected Taleban insurgents and NATO and Afghan security forces in another southern Afghan village, police said. A resident said 13 villagers, including women and children, died. At least one Taleban militant was killed and three police wounded in Tajikai village in southern Helmand province before the rocket slammed into the house, said provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhel.
Afghan police called in NATO air support during the clash that started about 10 p.m. on Tuesday and lasted until 2 a.m. yesterday, Malakhel said. “A civilian home was hit by a rocket, but it’s unsure which side fired it,” he said. “There were some civilian casualties.” Abdul Rehman, a resident in the village contacted by phone, said a rocket fired from an aircraft hit a home, killing 13 people inside. Rehman said that relatives of the dead told him all those inside the dried mud house — five women, five children, three men — were killed, including the house’s owner, Nabi Khel.
Since late 2001, there have been numerous other incidents of civilians killed in military operations against Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters, although US-led coalition and NATO forces say they go to extreme lengths to avoid inflicting civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, the kidnappers of an Italian photojournalist have demanded Italy hand over an Afghan who converted to Christianity from Islam by midnight Sunday in return for the hostage’s release, a website said.
Abdul Rahman, 41, who converted 16 years ago while working with a Christian aid group as a refugee in Pakistan, was spirited away to Italy in March and granted asylum after being charged with leaving Islam, which carries the death penalty. The kidnappers made their demand through a hospital run by Italian aid agency Emergency in Helmand province, a Taleban stronghold and major opium center, said PeaceReporter (www.peacereporter.net), specializing in conflict cover, yesterday.
