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US airstrikes kill dozens in Afghanistan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-07 07:41

KABUL -- The international Red Cross confirmed "dozens of bodies" Wednesday in graves and rubble where Afghan officials alleged US bombs killed civilians, and the Afghan president said his first meeting with President Barack Obama would focus on the issue.

The international Red Cross reported that its officials saw women and children among dozens of dead bodies in two villages targeted by airstrikes, while the US military sent a brigadier general to the region to investigate.

A former government official said up to 120 people died in the bombing on Monday evening.

The first images from the bombings in Farah province emerged yesterday. Photos from the site obtained by The Associated Press showed villagers burying the dead in about a dozen fresh graves, while others dug through the rubble of demolished mud-brick homes.

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross traveled to Bala Baluk district in Farah on Tuesday, where the officials saw "dozens of bodies in each of the two locations that we went to", said spokeswoman Jessica Barry.

"There were bodies, there were graves, and there were people burying bodies when we were there," she said. "We do confirm women and children. There were women and children."

Karzai ordered a probe yesterday into the killings, and the US military sent a brigadier general to Farah to head a US investigation, said Colonel Greg Julian, a US spokesman. Afghan military and police officials were also part of the investigative team.

Karzai, currently in the United States, will raise the issue of civilian deaths with Obama, a statement from Karzai's office said.

'Unacceptable'

Karzai called civilian casualties "unacceptable". Civilian deaths have caused increasing friction between the Afghan and US governments, and Karzai has long pleaded with American officials to reduce the number of civilian casualties in their operations. US and NATO officials accuse the Taliban militants of fighting from within civilian homes, thus putting them in danger.

Local officials said on Tuesday that bombing runs called by US forces killed dozens of civilians in Gerani village in Farah province's Bala Buluk district.

Mohammad Nieem Qadderdan, a former district chief of Bala Buluk, said that between 100 and 120 people were killed in the attacks. He said villagers were still uncovering bodies, some of which were missing limbs or were torn into small pieces, he said.

"People are still looking through the rubble," Qadderdan said. "We need more people to help us. Many families left the villages, fearing other strikes."

Provincial authorities have told villagers not to bury the bodies, but instead to line them up for the officials conducting the investigation to see, Qadderdan said.