Saying it received information from a “reliable source,” NATO said insurgents may be planning to falsely claim that international military forces killed up to 70 civilians in southern Afghanistan.
NATO said in a statement late on Sunday that its forces had helped “a number” of injured civilians who approached its forces in the Sangin district of Helmand Province earlier in the day. Soldiers provided medical treatment and helped take them to medical facilities around Helmand and Kandahar.
“The cause of their injuries is unknown at this time. Further details will be released in due course,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in the statement. It did not say whether the injuries were caused by weapons.
Hours later, NATO released another statement saying “a reliable source” had told it insurgents planned to falsely claim that troops had killed up to 70 civilians in the same area.
“ISAF has had no reports that would substantiate a claim such as this. There have been no reports other than of those injured, the cause of which remains unknown at this time,” NATO said.
The NATO warning over a possible civilian casualty claim came hours after the separate US-led coalition command said its troops killed over 220 insurgents in a weeklong fighting in the same province. The coalition did not say where the militants were killed in the province.
Meanwhile, a raid by foreign and Afghan forces in Kabul early yesterday killed a man and his two children, witnesses said.
The raid in the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital was conducted by US troops backed by Afghan intelligence agents, said police officer Qubaidullah.
He said the raid killed a man named Nurullah and two of his children and wounded his wife.
Hours later, hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Kabul accusing US-led troops of killing the three family members of a family, residents and witnesses said.
“It was past one o’clock when the troops came and surrounded our houses,” said Sulaiman, a resident. “They threw hand grenades on one house and killed three family members.”
Nurullah’s wife was wounded, he said.
“Are these children al-Qaeda?” an angry resident asked as the bodies were taken for burial. “We don’t expect anything from the government because we don’t have a government,” Sulaiman said.
In related news, British actor Jude Law was visiting Afghanistan to promote peace.
Together with director Jeremy Gilley, the Oscar-nominated Law returned to Afghanistan to help maintain momentum for Peace Day — an annual day of global ceasefire and nonviolence on Sept. 21.
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