Letter detailing civilian presence failed to prevent deadly Afghan drone strike
Twelve days ahead of the pine-nut harvest season, the governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province received a letter from village elders in the Wazir Tangi area about their plans to recruit 200 laborers and children to pluck the dry fruit. The letter, seen by Reuters and dated Sept. 7, was sent in an effort to help protect laborers from getting caught in clashes between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters in the mountainous terrain largely controlled by the jihadists.
“The warring sides had given their consent and contractors were hired to bring in laborers from neighboring provinces ... no illegal activity was being pursued, but even then, the U.S. drone killed innocent people,” Sohrab Qadri, a member of the Nangarhar provincial council, told Reuters.
On Wednesday, just hours after farmers, laborers and children finished their day’s work of plucking pine nuts in the heavily forested area and lit bonfires near their tents, a U.S. drone hit the site, killing 30 civilians and injuring 40 others, according to three Afghan provincial officials. Local residents expressed shock and anger that the attack occurred despite the letter and subsequent assurances of safety for the workers. A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan confirmed on Thursday that the drone strike was conducted by the United States.
Air strikes by U.S. and Afghan forces killed 363 civilians and injured 156 others in Afghanistan in the first half of this year, the U.N. report said. Among the dead and wounded were 150 children, it added.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones-letter/letter-detailing-civilian-presence-failed-to-prevent-deadly-afghan-drone-strike-idUSKBN1W431P
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