NATO Says its Rockets Killed 12 Afghan Civilians

[tekisui]

Source: Reuters

MARJAH (Reuters) - NATO rockets killed 12 Afghan civilians on Sunday, the second day of an offensive designed to impose Afghan government authority on one of the last big Taliban strongholds in the country's most violent province.

The assault, one of NATO's biggest against the Taliban since the war began in 2001, tests President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to seize insurgent-held areas before a planned 2011 troop drawdown. The civilian casualties marked a blow to efforts to win the support of the local population.

A day after the attack started with waves of helicopters ferrying troops into the town of Marjah and the nearby Nad Ali district, Marines came under intense fire in the heart of Marjah as they sought to root out pockets of insurgents.

The United States' top military officer on Sunday said the assault on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province had gotten "off to a good start."

"It's actually very difficult to predict (the end)," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters during a visit to Israel. "We have from a planning standpoint talked about a few weeks, but I don't know that."

The offensive has been flagged for weeks, to persuade Taliban fighters to leave so the area can be recaptured with minimal damage or loss of civilian life, in the hope that the 100,000 people there will welcome the Afghan administration.

more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61B1ZJ20100214

[asdjrocky]

1. On all of our heads.

All of us are to blame.

[Mari333]

2. hey Obama its your goddamned war now

and the blood is on your hands.
god forgive us.