20 Civilians Killed in US Airstrike in Afghan Province, Government and Media Silent
- Category: Reports
- Written by SPA | Translated by: RAWA
- Published: Monday, 22 August 2016
According to reports received from Minari village of Khushamand district, Paktika province, more than 20 civilians were killed in an airstrike by US forces on August 12, 2016. Among the victims were Dr. Wirishman and members of his family, including women and children. The photos of the martyred were circulated on Facebook and showed the blood soaked bodies of Dr. Wirishman, his two sons, daughter, and cousin.
According to sources from the area who do not want to be named, this attack was carried out without informing the governor and other military officials of Paktika, and was directly planned and led by the US base in Kabul. The target of this attack was apparently a house which was thought to be inhabited by some Taliban commanders at the time. When the attack began, several residential homes around the targeted house were bombarded non-stop by the US forces. As a result, the innocent people suffered the most casualties. Ilyas Wahdat, the governor of Paktika, was in Kabul during the attack and was not permitted by Arg and US officials to speak to the media about the incident. The press office of Arg and other intelligence bodies of the government also asked the media under their influence to sweep the heart wrenching incident under the rug.
Several websites have stated that Khalil Ziayee, the police chief of Paktika, has confirmed this attack. One of the elders of the area, Gula Jan, also expressed his sorrow at the killing of civilians.
While the media outlets of Afghanistan are enthusiastically reporting the treacherous, meaningless squabble between Ghani and Abdullah, and broadcasting fake reports of the “killing of tens of Taliban and ISIS forces” in this and that province, they are ignoring this brutal crime committed by their US funders.
US and NATO’s war crimes are usually censored by the media and the killings of civilians have been regularly branded as “the killing of Taliban”. On April 9, 2016, a representative of Paktika province in the Parliament, protested a US drone attack that killed 17 civilians on April 6 in Gomal district and asked the government to probe the matter. US officials claimed that all those killed were Taliban. Regarding the same incident, Haji Hussein Khan, a tribal leader who was a witness of the attack told a French newspaper that all those killed were civilians, and Shaista Khan, the district chief of Gomal, also confirmed that the victims were civilians. General Charles Clevelands US Army spokesman at the time, promised a thorough investigation but no report has been published since then, and this crime has also been forgotten.
According to the “selling” document of Afghanistan signed by the National “Terror” Government with the US two days after its formation, US forces in Afghanistan enjoy immunity from prosecution and cannot be investigated in this incident. These crimes and cruelties will continue till the day our nation rises against these foreign occupiers and their internal lackeys.
