The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 76/No. 21      May 28, 2012

 
US airstrikes in Yemen,
Afghanistan kill civilians
 
BY EMMA JOHNSON  
Two suspected U.S. aerial drone strikes in Yemen May 15 killed 15 people. Eight of those killed were civilians and at least seven other civilians were injured, Yemeni officials told CNN. Other press sources report that as many as 12 of those killed were civilians and up to 21 civilians were injured.

Afghan officials told the press that airstrikes in Afghanistan killed 18 civilians, including five children, in four provinces between May 3 and May 9.

The drone attacks hit the city of Jaar in the south of Yemen. Residents told CNN that people flocked to help the victims and then were killed in a follow-up strike.

“Our lives are valueless in the eyes of our government and that is why civilians are being killed without a crime,” resident Ali Abu Abdullah was quoted as saying by CNN.

“We give our condolences to the families of those who lost a loved one,” a Yemeni official told CNN.

The number of drone strikes have escalated sharply in Yemen, with 29 since the end of 2009, half of them during the last two months, according to the Long War Journal website.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan a NATO airstrike May 4 killed a family of six in Helmand province. “We are able to confirm the incident and will be formally apologizing in the next couple of days,” U.S. Lt. Col. Stewart Upton told the Washington Post May 7.

During his visit to Afghanistan May 1, President Barack Obama signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Afghan government about continued assistance with “counterterrorism” and training through 2024.

Under pressure of widespread resentment of the U.S.-led war and after meeting with the families of the recent victims, President Hamid Karzai’s office released a statement saying, “If the lives of Afghan people are not safe, the signing of the strategic partnership has no meaning.”  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home