Posted on 02/14/2010 9:12:14 AM PST by tobyhill
Nato has confirmed that two rockets fired at militants during its offensive in Helmand, south Afghanistan, missed their target and killed 12 civilians.
The rockets struck a house in Marjah as thousands of Nato troops continued their operations to oust the Taliban.
Nato's commander Gen Stanley McChrystal said that "we deeply regret this tragic loss of life".
Coalition forces are aiming to build on gains in Operation Moshtarak, tackling snipers and booby-traps on day two.
A third Nato death related to the operation has also been confirmed.
Operation Moshtarak, meaning "together" in the Dari language, is the biggest coalition attack since the Taliban fell in 2001.
The operation is also the first big test of US President Barack Obama's new "surge" strategy for Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
We will be lucky if this murder of civilians even makes MSM
It’s not Murder, Slaughter, unjust, and it doesn’t matter WHEN A DEMOCRAT DOES IT.
Jeeze...
Didn’t you get the MSM memo on this??
http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=57955
Off-target Rockets Prompt Apology for Civilian Casualties
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Feb. 14, 2010 – International forces in Afghanistan have suspended use of an artillery rocket system, pending a review of an incident today in which two rockets missed their target and killed 12 civilians in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, International Security Assistance Force commander, conveyed his apologies to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the incident that occurred as Afghan and international forces continue an operation to clear a Taliban stronghold.
“We deeply regret this tragic loss of life,” McChrystal said. “The current operation in central Helmand is aimed at restoring security and stability to this vital area of Afghanistan. It’s regrettable that in the course of our joint efforts, innocent lives were lost. We extend our heartfelt sympathies and will ensure we do all we can to avoid future incidents.”
Two rockets from a high-mobility artillery rocket system missed their intended target, killing 12 civilians in Helmand’s Nad Ali district. The rockets’ target was a compound where insurgents were delivering accurate, direct fire on a combined Afghan-ISAF team, officials said. An Afghan soldier and an ISAF servicemember had been injured by the insurgent fire.
(From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command news release.)
The Israelis will of course take note,and demand that NATO faces war crime charges at the Hague tribunal.
NATO targets civilians....then claim is an accident.
hussein obama MUST be tried for crime against humanity....
Next time hussein comes to Europe I wish to see demands from muslims attorneys for his arrest.
“Murder”? Come on. It was anything but. In war, s*&^ happens. You do what you can to prevent it, but it does happen. During Operation Cast Lead, you had Hamas deliberately trying to get as many civilians in harm’s way as possible, but that did not make the IDF “murderers”. Neither were the NATO troops in this case guilty of anything more than bad aim.
I was just borrowing a term Bush haters used.
Funny how things change and yet remain the same
Don't know why they're doing it, but clearly there's a political reason.
Remember, war is cool, when it's "Obama's war."
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