© Ahmad Jamshid / The Associated PressMike Wigston, right, director of air operations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) joint command speaks, as U.S. Brig. Gen. Lewis Boone, director of public affairs for coalition forces listens during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 15,
The U.S.-led military coalition said Wednesday that it regrets the killing of eight civilians in a NATO airstrike this month in eastern Afghanistan.
Civilian casualties have long been a source of friction between the U.S.-led international force and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who condemned the bombing and sent a delegation to the scene to investigate.
The coalition called in the airstrike on Feb. 8 in the Najrab district in Kapisa province, after movements by eight people on the ground were assessed as a threat to Afghan police and NATO forces in the area, said Army Brig. Gen. Lewis Boone, director of public affairs for the coalition.
"The aircraft dropped two bombs on the group that we believed to be an imminent threat to our people," Boone told reporters in Kabul. "Despite all tactical directives being followed precisely, we now know the unfortunate result of this engagement. In the end, eight young Afghans lost their lives in this very sad event."
Coalition and Afghan security forces were searching the area for weapons and ammunition, he said. Using binoculars and other equipment, ground forces identified several groups of Afghan males leaving a village at different times and going in different directions, he said. One group of eight headed for nearby mountains.
Comment: The basic human rights of American Citizens aren't represented here in the United States. We have Free Speech Zones (yahoo search) and the right to gather and protest is defunct at best. Apparently the Log in our eye (The United States) is somehow far less obstructive than the toothpick in Iran's. Thus we (USA), a nation of so-called-Democracy, can Dictate how Iran functions financially. The US is able to achieve this by the support of our
Satellite nationserr..Colonieserr.. fellow, Independent, Democratic friends.Readers of the Signs of the Times have a good idea of what's "really" going on inside Syria.