NATO troops backed by Britain and the US in the ongoing invasion of Afghanistan, claimed that 45 insurgents and no civilians had been killed but later admitted that up to 8 women and children had been killed in the air raid.
Seven injured females were also taken to hospitals including some as young as 10 years old, a provincial health director said.
Lindsey German, a convener for ‘Stop the War Coalition’ in London, told the Star that “killings in Afghanistan like these were becoming a lot more common”.
“We hear about the deaths of soldiers and we hear their names, but very little is said about these kinds of deaths. They are the product of a war which is not being won on the ground and which brings a terrible human cost. This not only raises the death toll but will make more Afghans opposed to the occupation,” German said.
The deaths of the Afghan civilians came during a recently tense confrontation including an incident at the British base, Camp Bastion, where two US marines were killed and several UK troops were injured. An insurgent spokesman said that the move was an act of revenge against an anti-Islam film, which was produced in the United States and because Prince Harry of Britain was present at Camp Bastion.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported that two UK troopers from 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, were shot dead at a checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand province on Saturday 15 September.
The deaths brought the number of UK troops in Afghan war to more than 430 since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
BGH/MOL/HE
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