US-led coalition troops killed three men, two children and a woman in a raid in southeastern Afghanistan, provincial officials and village residents said yesterday.
They said the victims, from the families of two brothers, were all civilians, but the US military said the two brothers were involved in conducting bombing operations using improvised explosive devices.
The issue of civilian casualties is a sensitive one as it undermines public support for the presence of foreign troops and the pro-Western government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"We will join the jihad" and "Death to Bush," chanted residents of the village of Muqibel in Khost Province where the incident happened overnight.
Foreign troops raided two adjacent houses belonging to two brothers and killed three men, two children and a woman from the two families, district governor Gul Qasim told reporters.
The children, both boys no older than 10, had bullet wounds to the head and chest, an eyewitness said.
A large angry crowd of men gathered as villagers helped the local imam wash the bodies before burial. Women could be heard screaming and wailing from inside the houses.
"I condemn this strongly," Khost Province Governor Arsala Jamal told reporters. "Afghan [forces] were not involved. It was a breach of the promise by coalition troops that they would coordinate operations with us. It is a challenge for us and it alienates people."
Soldiers were searching the compounds for one of the brothers when they came under fire, the US military said.
"Several armed militants, two of whom were barricaded in a building, opened fire on coalition forces after they entered the compound," coalition spokesman Major Chris Belcher said in a statement. "Coalition forces returned fire, killing Bismullah, his brother Rahim Jan, as well as several other armed militants."
Troops discovered the bodies of a woman and a child in the buildings after the fighting, the statement said, blaming the militants for putting the woman and child in harm's way.
A son of one of the brothers said he was a member of the border police and had returned from duty for the funerals.
"I heard about it this morning and came here," said the son, Alefuddin. "I lost three members of my family and three members of my uncle's family ... they were ordinary people."
Two men were also detained during the raid, the US military and residents said.
The UN on Tuesday called for greater commitment from the Afghan government in implementing a justice plan intended to address decades of rights abuses.
The chief UN human rights officer in Afghanistan, Norah Niland, said there would be no peace and stability if "impunity is not ended."
"Afghans are crying out for justice," Niland told reporters. "The voices of victims need to be heard, and unless and until the issue of impunity is addressed, the past will continue to undermine the future."
Karzai in December 2006 signed a reconciliation and justice plan that listed several steps for addressing past abuse.
"There is a great disappointment that there has not been more forward movement on the action plan," Niland said, adding that the issue of accountability had been "distorted and misrepresented."
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