Rights Watch decries civilian deaths

QUETTA (PAKISTAN), OCT. 31. Nearly 35 Afghan civilians died when U.S. bombs and gunfire hit their village, Chowkar-Karez, on the night of Oct. 22, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

None of the witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch knew of Taliban or Al-Qaeda positions in the area of the attack.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call to the U.S.-led alliance to ensure that it is taking adequate precaution to avoid civilian casualties, and called for an immediate investigation into the bombing raid that hit Chowkar-Karez, located some 40 km north of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.``If there were military targets in the area, we'd like to know that they were,'' said Sidney Jones, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch. ``This is the second instance in less than a week in which we've documented substantial civilian casualties from U.S. bombing raids. The Pentagon has got to do more to avoid these deaths.''

Human Rights Watch researchers located six wounded survivors of the October 22 bombing raid that hit Chowkar-Karez. The six are currently recovering in Quetta hospitals. Human Rights Watch also interviewed several additional persons who witnessed the attack but were not hurt.

Among those wounded by the bombing are Mrs. Sardar Bibi (40), who lost her husband and six children in the attack; five-year-old Shabir Ahmed, who received severe shrapnel wounds to his head and remains unconscious; Shabir Ahmed's seven-year-old brother, who was also wounded; and three adult sisters.

One family interviewed by Human Rights Watch provided the names of 18 relatives killed in the incident, and another unrelated woman said her husband and six children were killed, and that she had been told that as many as 35 people died in the raids.

All of the witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said there were no Taliban or Al-Qaeda positions in the area of the attack, which is in a remote rural area of Afghanistan. In almost all other cases of civilian casualties caused by the U.S.-led bombing campaign investigated by Human Rights Watch, survivors and witnesses have been forthcoming in identifying Taliban or Al- Qaeda military positions located nearby which could have been the target of the attack. It is impossible for Human Rights Watch to verify independently whether Taliban or Al-Qaeda military targets existed in the area of Chowkar-Karez village, but the consistent statements of all witnesses and survivors that there were none is notable.

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Section  : International
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