Afghanistan: Terrified Civilians Flee NATO Bombings

Helmand residents allege that 13 civilians were killed two weeks ago in a NATO air-strike, and last week lawmaker Nasima Niyazi claimed that dozens of civilians were killed when coalition forces bombed a popular picnic spot in the Sangin district. U.S.-led forces recently admitted to killing six civilians in a house raid in eastern Afghanistan, including two children.

Last week, close to 400 demonstrators gathered near Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, to protest civilian killings. Protesters claim that NATO soldiers raided a house and killed two people, including a child. One protester asked a local news agency, “We are poor people with no links to militants. Why are troops killing us?“

Jumakhan Said Muhammad was working on his land when he first heard the planes. “I looked up,” the farmer from Musa Qala, in the southern Helmand province, says. “Suddenly a plane flew by and I saw smoke rising from my house, which was down the road.”

Muhammad ran towards his home, where dozens of villagers were shouting his name as they surrounded his house. “The house was split in half by the bomb,” he recalls. “The walls were collapsed and crumbled. Blood was pouring from my nephew (seven-years-old) like it was water. He had shrapnel in his brain and stomach. I then saw my sister’s headscarf peeking out from underneath the rubble and so we raced desperately to save her. When we pulled her out from the wreckage I saw her body — she was cut completely in half. I started to scream.”

Muhammad’s sister and nephew are among a steady flow of civilian casualties caused by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) bombardment, residents say.

Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.

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