Civilian toll: 90 in two weeks

Even as US forces apologized and paid reparations yesterday for the wrongful deaths of 19 civilians a month ago, reports have come in that 21 more civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike last night. Reuters notes that the incident "brings to nearly 90 the number of civilian deaths blamed by Afghan officials on Western troops in the past two weeks". Public support for international counterinsurgency operations is shrinking.

NATO has announced its intent to change its operations to minimize civilian casualties (why the inquiry took so long to initiate is anyone's guess). The answer must include less reliance on air strikes, but what else, specifically, can be done if the military objectives remain unchanged?

Governor: Air raid kills 21 civilians in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, May 9, (Reuters)     By Ismail Sameen: An air strike by Western forces killed 21 civilians, including women and children, in Afghanistan, a provincial governor said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of civilian casualties that has riled Afghans. MORE

The incident, which brings to nearly 90 the number of civilian deaths blamed by Afghan officials on Western troops in the past two weeks, comes as President Hamid Karzai faces rising pressure to halt the bloodshed and find a way to start peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

The air strike on Tuesday night hit houses in a village in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, where Western forces have been hunting Taliban militants in recent weeks, Helmand governor Assadullah Wafa told Reuters.

"Last night, NATO forces carried out an operation in Sangin and as a result of its bombing, 21 civilians, including women and children and men, have been killed," he said.

NATO said its security force had not been active in that area on Tuesday but Wafa may have referring to a clash involving U.S.-led coalition troops hunting Taliban near Sangin, in which one coalition soldier was also killed the same day.

A U.S. military spokesman said he had heard reports about civilians killed in this clash but his information was that the only other people killed were militants.Wafa said he had no report of casualties among the Taliban...

While most civilian casualties in Afghanistan in recent years have been linked to the hands of Taliban militants, a rising number of deaths in "friendly fire" from Western troops has added to pressure on the government.

The U.S. commander for eastern Afghanistan, Army Colonel John Nicholson, apologised on Tuesday for the killing of 19 civilians by U.S. troops just over a month ago.

An inquiry is underway into UN and Afghan reports that around 50 civilians were killed in a coalition operation in the west late last month, one of several incidents that has prompted NATO to seek ways to change how it operates to minimise civilian casualties...

The government also faces criticism over rampant corruption and a lack of progress in rebuilding the country, despite billions of dollars in aid since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.Parliament's upper house called on Tuesday for increased efforts to negotiate with the Taliban and an end to Western military operations to hunt them.

In addition, a new political grouping that includes some government figures has called for some of the president's powers to be taken away and given to a new role of prime minister...

     (Additional reporting by Sayed Sallahuddin in Kabul and Elyas Wahdat in Khost)

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801360.html

Does this seem a tad low for blood money?

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