Afghan rights group sets the record straight on civilian deaths

Calcutta News.Net
Tuesday 26th May, 2009

An Afghan human rights group has reported civilian deaths from a US air strike in western Afghanistan earlier this month.

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission has said 97 civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike in the Bala Baluk district of Farah province on the 8th may.

Most of the victims were women and children, killed in three houses where civilians had gathered to avoid the strikes.

An earlier investigation by the Afghan government found that as many as 140 civilians had been killed.

An investigation by the U.S military placed the number of civilian deaths between 20 and 30.

The AIHRC report says the numbers of the dead were assessed through witness and medical reports.

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