Nato's barbaric air-strike
SM Mohamed IdrisPublished: Sep 8, 2009 2:26 PM | Updated: Sep 8, 2009 2:32 PM
Citizens International strongly condemns the Nato air strike in Afghanistan which killed 90 people, most of them civilians including children.
Those responsible for the barbaric act must be made accountable and punished.
The dead were among 250 people who had gathered near a fuel tanker that had been hijacked by the Afghan resistance.
Citizens International strongly condemns the Nato air strike in Afghanistan which killed 90 people, most of them civilians including children.
Those responsible for the barbaric act must be made accountable and punished.
The dead were among 250 people who had gathered near a fuel tanker that had been hijacked by the Afghan resistance.
Some of them were helping themselves to the fuel when the Nato jets strafed the tanker containing highly inflammable fuel and ignited an inferno.
With the sophisticated technology available to the Nato pilots, they should have known that those near the tanker were largely civilians, a number of them children.
The attack must have been deliberate, intended to terrorise the Afghan people into not supporting the resistance. With such atrocities committed against civilians, the resistance will only grow stronger and receive wider support from the people.
According to news reports, the scene near the tanker after the attack was gruesome. Mohammed Daud, an eyewitness to the attack, told an AFP correspondent: "Nobody was in one piece. Hands, legs and body parts were scattered everywhere. Those who were away from the fuel tanker were badly burnt,"
Such barbarous mayhem is the result of the Operation Enduring Freedom launched by the United States and its allies on Afghanistan in 2001 in their crusade against what former President Bush called ‘Islamic terrorism'.
In the last seven years more than 2,000 Afghan civilians have been killed and many thousands injured. The Afghans are not enjoying freedom as the Americans and Nato promised but suffering poverty, hunger, malnutrition, disease and violence.
According to United Nations figures, 42% of Afghans live on less than US$1 a day and 165 of every 1,000 babies born in Afghanistan die before they reach their first birthday.
The US spends US$100 million a day on its forces in Afghanistan but only US$7 million a day on Afghan development.
The enormous resources devoted to waging the war in Afghanistan could be better utilised to eliminate poverty and provide good health care not only in Afghanistan but also in the US where tens of millions live below the poverty line and cannot afford health insurance.
Only an end to the war will bring freedom, peace and development to the Afghan people, and security, well-being and health care to the poor in the US
Citizens International calls on:
SM Mohamed Idris is chairman of Citizens International
Those responsible for the barbaric act must be made accountable and punished.
The dead were among 250 people who had gathered near a fuel tanker that had been hijacked by the Afghan resistance.
Some of them were helping themselves to the fuel when the Nato jets strafed the tanker containing highly inflammable fuel and ignited an inferno.
With the sophisticated technology available to the Nato pilots, they should have known that those near the tanker were largely civilians, a number of them children.
The attack must have been deliberate, intended to terrorise the Afghan people into not supporting the resistance. With such atrocities committed against civilians, the resistance will only grow stronger and receive wider support from the people.
According to news reports, the scene near the tanker after the attack was gruesome. Mohammed Daud, an eyewitness to the attack, told an AFP correspondent: "Nobody was in one piece. Hands, legs and body parts were scattered everywhere. Those who were away from the fuel tanker were badly burnt,"
Such barbarous mayhem is the result of the Operation Enduring Freedom launched by the United States and its allies on Afghanistan in 2001 in their crusade against what former President Bush called ‘Islamic terrorism'.
In the last seven years more than 2,000 Afghan civilians have been killed and many thousands injured. The Afghans are not enjoying freedom as the Americans and Nato promised but suffering poverty, hunger, malnutrition, disease and violence.
According to United Nations figures, 42% of Afghans live on less than US$1 a day and 165 of every 1,000 babies born in Afghanistan die before they reach their first birthday.
The US spends US$100 million a day on its forces in Afghanistan but only US$7 million a day on Afghan development.
The enormous resources devoted to waging the war in Afghanistan could be better utilised to eliminate poverty and provide good health care not only in Afghanistan but also in the US where tens of millions live below the poverty line and cannot afford health insurance.
Only an end to the war will bring freedom, peace and development to the Afghan people, and security, well-being and health care to the poor in the US
Citizens International calls on:
- The UN secretary general to initiate action to investigate the aerial strike against Afghan civilians and take action against those responsible.
- The US and Nato to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, and negotiate with the Afghan resistance to end their occupation.
- Pakistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia together to take urgent action to resolve the conflict among the Afghan groups, leading to the establishment of a stable government in accordance with the genuine wishes of the Afghan people.
SM Mohamed Idris is chairman of Citizens International
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