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US airstrikes have killed hundreds of Afghan children:
09-02-2013
US military forces have killed hundreds of children in Afghanistan since 2008, according to a new report conducted by a United Nations monitoring body.
The Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said the killings, often caused by air strikes, were "due notably to reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force."
The report, received by AFP on Friday, also expressed concern that troops responsible for the killing of children had not always been held accountable and that family grievances had not been redressed.
The CRC's comments came after a five-yearly review of US compliance with an international treaty on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
It said it was "alarmed at reports of the death of hundreds of children as a result of attacks and air strikes by the US military forces in Afghanistan over the reporting period."
"The committee expresses grave concern that in fact the number of casualties of children doubled from 2010 to 2011."
There was no immediate reaction from the United States. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Thursday that she had not seen the report, but would look into it.
A UN report in April last year said 110 children were killed and 68 wounded in air strikes conducted by US-led NATO and Afghan National Security Forces in 2011.
The CRC report gave no precise statistics.
UN figures show that the vast majority of civilian casualties in the Afghan war are caused by Taliban insurgents, mainly through roadside bombs and suicide attacks.
But those caused by NATO forces have long been a cause of friction with the government of President Hamid Karzai.
(AFP, AP, Al-Akhbar)
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-airstrikes-have-killed-hundreds-afghan-children-un
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