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Villagers Devastated by U.S. Airstrike on Wedding Party Demand Justice
Monday, September 9, 2002
(3:04 PM ET)
By Tini Tran
Associated Press Writer

"They should not use al-Qaida and Taliban as an excuse to kill the innocent. I myself stood shoulder to shoulder with Hamid Karzai at Tarin Kot. We pushed back Taliban and al-Qaida together. If there are al-Qaida, it would be us who fight them first."

KAKARAK, Afghanistan -- AP
The garden where Ahmed Shah's mother, father and relatives were killed has been left to grow wild. The gaping rocket holes remain in the roof. And Shah's anger still runs deep over the U.S. air attack that Afghans say killed dozens at a wedding party at his home.

A U.S. investigative report, released Friday by the U.S. Central Command, said the July 1 airstrike was justified because American planes had come under fire. That finding, however, has only stoked the resentment and fury over an attack that Afghan officials say killed 48 people and wounded 117.

"America has to make excuses for this horrible attack. Soon after the bombing, American troops seized this area. They searched all our homes, but they found nothing," said Shah, 25, who lost his parents and 23 other relatives in the bombing.

"They have killed women and children. Shouldn't the Americans be held accountable and responsible by their own law, if not ours?" he asked.

The attack, which followed other misdirected U.S. operations in southern Afghanistan, strained relations between the U.S. military and President Hamid Karzai's government. Following the raid, Karzai said "all necessary measures" must be taken to avoid civilian casualties and urged closer coordination between U.S. and Afghan forces.

In its report, the U.S. military acknowledged civilian deaths but concluded that the AC-130 gunship launched the attack against five villages in Uruzgan province only after coming under fire from the ground.
(More: New Jersey Online News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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