Civilians Killed & Wounded in Coalition Attack in Afghanistan

The sound bite sent out by the US military on Tuesday coming out of Afghanistan was that coalition forces had successfully killed some 40 members of the Taliban. The reality appears to be otherwise.

Via Reuters:

...villagers from Uruzgan said many people were killed and wounded in the attacks on the villages of Dehjoaz, Joarshah and Kaker.

Haji Nida Mohammad, 45, said three members of his family were killed and two wounded.

Speaking in a hospital in the southern town of Kandahar where he had brought his wounded relatives, Mohammad said people were powerless to stop the Taliban entering their villages.

"When coalition forces and the government cannot stop the Taliban, how can we stop them entering our village?" he asked.

Dozens of villagers had been killed and wounded, he said.

A doctor at the Kandahar hospital said three wounded women had been brought in. A government health official in Uruzgan said 13 children wounded in the attack had been taken to hospital there.

The article goes on to tell of one Afghan women who apparently supports the Taliban 'martyrs':

"Taliban entered the village and the bombing started. Lots of innocent people were killed and wounded and our villages were completely destroyed," said the woman, who declined to give her name.

"I had three children. One died in my arms, another died in the yard and one is missing," she said.

Asked abut Taliban casualties she said: "Several of them were martyred but thank God, lots of them fled alive."

The reporter did not state whether any of the other civilian casualties were as a result of Afghans siding with or housing the Taliban.

A few weeks ago, President Karzai had this to say about the mounting death toll of his countrymen:

“It is not acceptable for us that in all this fighting, Afghans are dying. In the last three to four weeks, 500 to 600 Afghans were killed. (Even) if they are Taliban, they are sons of this land,” he added.