US Troops Open Fire After Afghan Roadside Bomb, Killing Family

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U.S. soldiers “indiscriminately” opened fire “out of fear” and killed an Afghan bricklayer and two of his children after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, according to witnesses.

The Gul family had already lost four members in a U.S. raid last year.

Aljazeera reports:

The incident took place early on Monday in Ghani Khel, a district in the south of Nangarhar province, Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told Al Jazeera.

“As the bomb blast hit their vehicle, the US troops starting shooting,” he said, adding that they had launched an investigation into the incident.

Ziyar Gul, a brick kiln labourer, was at work along with his sons – eight-year-old Faridullah and 10-year-old Sharafat – when they came under fire, according to witnesses.

“As soon as the blast took place, the US troops started firing indiscriminately out of fear,” Azizullah Aziz, a witness, told Al Jazeera, adding that a third son who was also present had managed to escape the firing.

“He ran and called for help, but by the time he was back, his father and brothers were dead.”

Four other members of the Gul family, including Ziyar’s six-year-old son, were killed in a US raid last year, relatives said.

“Could they not see that the people they [US troops] killed were children and an unarmed man? How could they fire directly at children and kill them? Their bodies were in bits and pieces after being shot numerous times,” Neyaz Gul, brother of Ziyar Gul, told Al Jazeera.

“No one is held accountable for killing innocent people like this in Afghanistan.”

Douglas High, a spokesman for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, confirmed that a roadside bomb had struck a convoy transporting both US and Afghan soldiers.

“We have not received any official allegations of civilian casualties,” High said in a statement, adding that the soldiers used small arms fire in self-defence.

High said in a statement on Monday that the soldiers returned fire in self-defence.

According to a UN tally, 2016 was the worst year for Afghan civilian casualties since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began recording them in 2009.

That count found that conflict-related civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose to 11,418 in 2016, including 3,498 people killed and 7,920 wounded. roadside bomb

2 Comments

  1. For the children to be shot into bits ,says there proximity was within field of vision of moving vehicle, 15-20 mtrs,, closing , is an unlawful killing ,by low grade soldiers, obviously not front line troops, inexperience can be the only excuse, unfortunately for the families of thousands killed in this manner, US military call this collateral damage bullets bouncing back up off hard ground tears body to pieces dead already ,but shooters still firing?

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