NATO troops kill Afghan civilians

Associated Press reports:

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – Poor communications between NATO troops and Afghan authorities led to the death of several civilians during an alliance operation against the Taliban in October, NATO officials said.

NATO officials have said about 30 civilians were killed in the incident in the Panjwaii district of southern Kandahar province; Afghan officials have put the figure has high as 80.

A report on the incident, which followed a joint Afghan-NATO investigation, was presented to 26 NATO ambassadors Wednesday.

“The main conclusion of the report is that this tragic event took place primarily because communications between international forces and local authorities did not work well enough,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

But he said the report would not be made public and he would not give details …

See also here.

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