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Afghan rights body alleges 'civilian deaths' in US raid on residential area
US soldiers killed four members of the same family during a raid yesterday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, an Afghan rights body said.
- Reuters & AP
- Published: 00:14 June 30, 2007
Kabul: US soldiers killed four members of the same family during a raid yesterday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, an Afghan rights body said.
The soldiers also arrested 15 other civilians during the pre-dawn raid in Khogiani district which lies on the foothills of the provincial capital Jalalabad, Lal Gul, the head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Group said.
Those killed in the raid were an 85-year-old man, Mohammad Jan, two of his sons and a grandson, Gul said. "The American soldiers blew up the gate of Mohammad Jan's house and then martyred him along with his three family members."
"From there they went to several other houses, broke into them and arrested 15 civilians," Gul added. A provincial spokesman confirmed Gul's account.
Clashes and airstrikes in the south left 17 more militants dead, officials said.
The raid in Nangarhar province targeted compounds suspected "of harbouring Taliban and foreign fighters," the US-led coalition said.
"Taliban forces inside two of the compounds attempted to engage coalition forces as they approached," it said in a statement. "The forces fired on the militants, killing the assailants and quickly securing the compounds." Troops found rocket-propelled grenade launchers and several grenades, it said.
Malek Zaman, an elder of the village, however, rejected the claim that the four deceased were militants.
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