The dangers of using coalition war planes in Afghanistan to attack densely populated areas on the ground have been shown up yet again after repeated cases of US planes and drones killing civilians while seeking Taliban fighters and their allies. The military advantages of a quick and massive kill are far outweighed by the political disaster of killing the civilians whom the coalition is in Afghanistan to protect.
This time the American-led coalition war planes bombed a hospital in Kunduz, killing 19 people and seriously injuring at least 37. All the dead are clearly non-combatants, which makes the attack particularly offensive.
The US Defence Department is investigating but it should seek to publish some initial findings in the next day or so. The department has promised full transparency but there are far too many previous cases of US forces being smuggled out of the country or failing to be held to justice, if that becomes a requirement.
It is all very well for US leaders to express their condolences but their caution over attributing blame must not become an excuse for silence over this gross failure of the military’s legal obligation to respect and protect civilians at all times, especially medical facilities and personnel.
The fighting in Kunduz was triggered last week by the Taliban capturing the city from the Afghan forces, committing a series of assaults on the residents and releasing anyone held in prison, and then resisting a counter assault by the Afghan and coalition forces. In the middle of the biggest offensive they have mounted in years, the Taliban have been quick to exploit the tragedy for their own purposes and have denied that any of their fighters were in the hospital and described the air strikes as “deliberate”, and the American forces “barbaric”.
It is folly for the coalition military to give its opponents such a huge a opportunity to whip up anti-American fervour and so reinforce the Taliban’s own terrible political and social claims.
