Afghans say 17 civilians dead in US strike

KABUL – A US air strike in eastern Afghanistan last week killed 17 civilians, including women and children, a governor said yesterday as the search continued for the missing comrades of a rescued US soldier.

The Afghans were killed when US warplanes bombed a suspected militant hideout at Chichal village in troubled Kunar province late on Friday amid the search for the small team of elite US soldiers, the provincial governor said. The US squad has been missing since June 28, when rebels shot down a helicopter sent to extract them, killing all 16 on board.One team member was rescued on Saturday but three remain unaccounted for, the television network CNN said.”Seventeen civilians died in the US bombing of the village,” Kunar governor Assadullah Wafa told AFP.”There are a number of children and women among the victims but I don’t have the exact figure right now.”The US military was not immediately available to comment on the casualty figures given by the provincial governor and earlier cancelled a regular news briefing scheduled for yesterday.US spokesman Colonel James Yonts said at the weekend that “all possible efforts are taken to prevent non-combatant injuries and deaths.”But he did not exclude the possibility civilians had been struck in the bombing.The ousted Taliban regime, which claimed responsibility for shooting down the MH-47 Chinook helicopter last week, said Saturday that US bombing had killed 25 civilians, including children.US forces are currently maintaining a wall of silence due to the sensitivity of the search operation, which is taking place alongside an ongoing US-Afghan mission to track down insurgents in Kunar, near the Pakistani border.”We have not concluded this operation.It is still going on and it will go on until we achieve our mission which is to defeat any terrorists in that area and to deny them sanctuary in Kunar province,” Yonts said yesterday.The soldier rescued on Saturday had “evaded the enemy and was successfully rescued by US forces,” CNN said late on Sunday.The US military said the soldier had “evaded the Taliban in the mountainous region throughout the past week,” the BBC reported on its website, quoting unidentified officials.Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi Sunday said the rebels had captured a US soldier and would release footage of seven “American spies” who had been killed, along with film of the captured soldier.Attacks blamed on the Taliban have been gaining in ferocity in recent weeks ahead of September 18 parliamentary elections.- Nampa-AFPThe US squad has been missing since June 28, when rebels shot down a helicopter sent to extract them, killing all 16 on board.One team member was rescued on Saturday but three remain unaccounted for, the television network CNN said.”Seventeen civilians died in the US bombing of the village,” Kunar governor Assadullah Wafa told AFP.”There are a number of children and women among the victims but I don’t have the exact figure right now.”The US military was not immediately available to comment on the casualty figures given by the provincial governor and earlier cancelled a regular news briefing scheduled for yesterday.US spokesman Colonel James Yonts said at the weekend that “all possible efforts are taken to prevent non-combatant injuries and deaths.”But he did not exclude the possibility civilians had been struck in the bombing.The ousted Taliban regime, which claimed responsibility for shooting down the MH-47 Chinook helicopter last week, said Saturday that US bombing had killed 25 civilians, including children.US forces are currently maintaining a wall of silence due to the sensitivity of the search operation, which is taking place alongside an ongoing US-Afghan mission to track down insurgents in Kunar, near the Pakistani border.”We have not concluded this operation.It is still going on and it will go on until we achieve our mission which is to defeat any terrorists in that area and to deny them sanctuary in Kunar province,” Yonts said yesterday.The soldier rescued on Saturday had “evaded the enemy and was successfully rescued by US forces,” CNN said late on Sunday.The US military said the soldier had “evaded the Taliban in the mountainous region throughout the past week,” the BBC reported on its website, quoting unidentified officials.Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi Sunday said the rebels had captured a US soldier and would release footage of seven “American spies” who had been killed, along with film of the captured soldier.Attacks blamed on the Taliban have been gaining in ferocity in recent weeks ahead of September 18 parliamentary elections. – Nampa-AFP