A NATO strike killed 11 children in Afghanistan in a Saturday battle in Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, according to reports from multiple sources on Sunday. According to an unnamed Afghan official, a joint Afghan-NATO operation was underway when they came under fire, forcing them to call in air support.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement that condemned the NATO air strike. However, he added, “The president also strongly condemns the Taliban’s tactic of using civilians and their homes as their shields.”
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that they were still investigating. Reportedly, an American civilian had been killed by militants at the scene, demanding the air response.
One report said that six insurgents, including two Taliban leaders, were also killed. A BBC report said that eight insurgents had been killed.
The BBC also said that there was a seven-hour firefight on the scene, with “hundreds” of soldiers in the area. Apparently, the Afghan-NATO forces didn’t realize that there were civilians in the houses. The children were in their homes when they were struck.
The conflict came not long after a car bomb in southern Afghanistan killed five Americans including young diplomat Anne Smedinghoff. They were traveling as part of a group that included Afghan officials with the intention of delivering books to students.
The air strikes are unpopular with Afghans, especially after a similar incident in February where a NATO airstrike killed 10 civilians. Five were children.
In response, Karzai signed a ban that forbids Afghan security forces from requesting the airstrikes. It isn’t clear if the ban has been enforced or if the ban only applies to calling in airstrikes in so-called residential areas.
In any case, ISAF spokesman Captain Luca Carniel said that the airstrike wasn’t requested by the Afghan forces but instead by the coalition.
With tension still high from previous incidents, it was an unusually bad time for a NATO strike to kill 11.