Monday, May 30, 2011

NATO corrects the record: we only killed nine civilians

"Afghan officials said Sunday that a NATO airstrike had killed 14 civilians, most of them women and children, in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday night.
Local officials said the strike was aimed at Taliban fighters and missed, hitting two family homes.  But in a conflicting account, a high-level NATO official said Sunday night that nine civilians were killed in the strike, which was aimed at five insurgents who attacked a coalition foot patrol and killed a Marine. The insurgents continued to fire from inside a compound when NATO forces called in the strike."