Afghanistan Rejects a US Apology for an Air Strike

On Sunday, Afghani president, Hamid Karzai, rejected a US apology for a NATO helicopter strike.  On March 1st, a NATO air strike killed 9 civilian boys. The oldest of the boys was 12 years old.  NATO has also apologized for the mistaken killings.

Addressing the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, President Karzai expressed that regret and apologies were not enough. The continuous thread of civilian deaths by the coalition operations is a major source of strain between the Afghani government and the United States. The most recent accident only adds to already high levels of outrage among the general population.

In the apology after the incident, Lt.-Gen. Rodriguez said troops were responding to a rocket attack. The helicopters thought they were engaging insurgents. It later turned out they were boys from a nearby village who were cutting firewood.

Civilian deaths have increased dramatically this year due to attacks from insurgents. Recently they have started attacking soft targets such as supermarkets, banks and sporting events. However, it is the civilian deaths from NATO forces – forces that claim to protect the civilians -  that often cause much more anger.