UN slams US for killing Afghan children
The United Nations has strongly condemned the US-led forces for killing several children in a recent airstrike in the troubled northeastern Afghanistan.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, called for a review of air strikes launched by foreign forces in the war-ravaged country. "Children killed in Afghanistan by airstrikes is a cause of serious concern," Coomaraswamy said in a statement released in New York.
The call comes days after nine children were gunned down by a NATO-led helicopter while collecting firewood in Kunar Province. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation inside and outside the country. US president Barak Obama [the one ultimately responsible for these killings] has expressed his "deep regret" over the deaths. The high number of civilian casualties caused by US-led forces has become a major source of friction between Kabul and Washington. Over the past two weeks at least, four attacks in eastern Afghanistan have claimed around eighty lives.
Joseph Kishore: Another war crime in Afghanistan: US massacres nine children in air strike
Jason Ditz: NATO’s Growing Civilian Toll Sparks Anger in Afghanistan