KABUL — An Afghan provincial governor said Monday that an apparent U.S. airstrike killed 10 Afghan civilians, and an immediate investigation was ordered by President Hamid Karzai, who has harshly criticized such incidents in the past.
If the reports are borne out, it would be the most serious instance in months of Western forces mistakenly killing Afghan civilians.
Civilian casualties at the hands of foreign forces have fallen off dramatically in the last six months, after Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, issued strict new rules of engagement limiting the use of force if noncombatants are thought to be in the area.
The alleged incident took place Sunday in a remote area of Kunar province, in Afghanistan’s northeast. Tribal elders in the district of Narang first reported the deaths, and the Associated Press quoted provincial police as saying eight of those killed were children.
Civilian casualties have long been a sore point between the Karzai government and the Western military. McChrystal’s directive was issued after a spike in deaths and injuries among noncombatants.
The general at the time told field commanders that protecting civilian lives must be their top priority because in Afghanistan’s tight-knit tribal society, such casualties inflame anger against foreign troops, thus undermining their mission and bringing new recruits to the insurgency.
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