w*****2 发帖数: 1458 | 1 Five Afghan soldiers were accidentally killed and eight injured in an
overnight American drone operation, an incident that is sure to anger
outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, even as Western leaders quickly
apologized.
Regional official Din Mohammad Darwish said "we believe the strike was the
result of poor coordination between the people on the ground and the
operators of the drone." He added, "the area is frequented by insurgents
both foreign and local, and drone strikes are carried out quite often in
that part of Charkh. The [Afghan National Army] outpost was part of the
security belt in the province." Another local leader, Abdul Wali, responded
with more anger, commenting "the coalition knows the location of every
Afghan outpost. How can such incidents happen?"
The accident, one of the deadliest cases of friendly fire in the war's
history, took place at an outpost in Logar Province. The U.S.-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) responded to the event by
saying "we value the strong relationship with our Afghan partners, and we
will determine what actions will be taken to ensure incidents like this do
not happen again." NATO said it was an "unfortunate incident," and that it
is looking into what happened.
Military casualties from drone strikes are less common than civilian ones,
although a recent report revised estimates of Afghan soldier death
significantly upward, suggesting that the army suffered more deaths than
previously thought.
Aimal Faizi, a Karzai spokesman, said "we condemn the attack on the Afghan
National Army in Logar. The president has ordered an investigation." The
president has repeatedly condemned casualties from U.S. drone strike, and
the issue has contributed to the chilly relations between Kabul and
Washington. Just last week, the Afghan president, who has refused to sign a
security pact with the U.S. before he leaves office next month, told The
Washington Post that "Afghans died in a war that's not ours." He added an
unfriendly message to Washington, which we think he'd reiterate today : "To
the U.S. government, give them my anger, my extreme anger." | g**********g 发帖数: 18118 | |
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