Dead in Afghanistan: May 2007
by Sarah Meyer
1. The Dead in Afghanistan
U.S. numbers of military deaths in Iraq1 receive a lot of attention. Unfortunately, other deaths in Iraq do not receive their due respect.
But American public awareness of murder/death in Afghanistan is cloudy. Nor do people realise that foreign troops are as unwelcome in Afghanistan as they are in Iraq. This article is about some of those deaths in Afghanistan. Civilian deaths have recently infuriated the Afghan people. The Americans ‘pay off’ these deaths -as if money is compatible with and resolves grief.
I have not included all deaths because of the 'labels' put on to them either by the military or the media. Their mindset insist on using words like ‘Al Qaeda,’ ‘Taliban,’ ‘militants’, ‘insurgents.’ It would be more correct to use the Afghan language - the “Taliban’ refer to themselves as ‘Mujahadeen'. As in Iraq, there are many people who legally object to - are resistant to - the occupation of their country. It is unfortunate that the U.S. military does not appear to respect the death of any Afghan, whatever their label.
There are further coalition deaths which are not included. The numbers given in official tallies vary. And I have surely missed some ‘civilian’ deaths. Apologies.
Some very callous remarks have been made by the U.S. Military in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Here is a ‘comment’ made to the article (18.05):
“As for the muslims- kill 'em all and let satan sort 'em out. I don't think G_D wants anything to with them- he sent them to the pit after all.”
And who supports this war criminal attitude?
V.P. Cheney.
And the wounded?
Who is accountable for these tragedies?
1. The Dead in Afghanistan
2. Civilian Deaths
Reports
Articles: Nangarhar; Further Afghan Civilian Deaths
3. Some “Insurgent” / “Taliban” Deaths
4. Some Pakistan Deaths
5. Some Afghan Soldiers’ Deaths
6. Coalition Deaths
7. Suicide Attacks
8. Future Deaths
2. Civilian Deaths
REPORTS
US ARMY ON IDENTIFICATION OF DECEASED PERSONNEL
A copy of the proscribed manual was obtained by Secrecy News (15.05.07) with their thanks to Entropic Memes.
Steve Aftergood writes: “The identification of deceased military and civilian personnel killed on or around the battlefield is one of the grim functions routinely
performed in wartime.
It is so grim, in fact, that the U.S. Army decided it should be shielded from public awareness.
A U.S. Army Field Manual on "Identification of Deceased Personnel" (large pdf) was not supposed to be made publicly available. The manual is not classified, nor does it impinge on personal privacy. It is rather less graphic than a typical medical school anatomy textbook. But to the Army, it is still not suitable for public consumption.
The cover page says it should be destroyed by any method that will "prevent disclosure of contents or reconstruction of the document."
"This [manual] begins with discussions of basic gross human anatomy, antemortem and perimortem trauma, human osteology, and dental anatomy and morphology. These chapters provide the mortuary affairs specialist with the basic knowledge to proficiently assist human identification experts (such as the forensic pathologist, medical examiner, forensic odontologist, and forensic anthropologist) with identifying human remains.”
Identification of Deceased Personnel
July 2005. U.S. Army Field Manual. 220 pgs in a very large 32 MB PDF file
Mental Health Advisory Team Report
25.05.07. Global Security. The results of the Army’s Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT).
Amnesty International Report 2007
• Between July and October, it was estimated that approximately 15,000 people had been forcibly displaced by conflict, including hundreds displaced by aerial bombardments in Kandahar, Uruzgan and Helmand provinces.
Sites civilian killings on 21/22 May; 29 May; areas in Uruzgan; Zangawat.
ARTICLES
Nangarhar
Following the April publishing of Index on Afghanistan: Death in Nangarhar, I received an email from Maj. Cliff W. Gillmore, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command. Maj. Gillmore said, “I would like to offer myself and our website to you as another source of information on this issue as it develops. The website address is www.marsoc.usmc.mil. It doesn't offer much in terms of bells and whistles, but it does include a growing Question & Response section as well as a "Contact Us" option in the index that leads to an organizational mailbox for my office. As you have no doubt experienced in the past, official release of information is greatly limited during ongoing investigations. However, through our Q&R page and a sincere effort on my part to establish and maintain direct dialogue with members of the public who have an interest in issues related to MARSOC, I can provide an additional perspective that may be useful to those interested in such a thing.
(signed) Major Gilmore.
(I replied but have not heard from him since)
Afghans protest over civilian deaths for third day
01.05.07. VOA. Hundreds of Afghans burned an effigy of President Bush Tuesday as they rallied for a third day to protest the killing of civilians by US-led coalition troops.
30 civilians among 136 dead in clashes
02.05.07. Peninsular Qatar. At least 30 civilians, including women and children, were among the dead after clashes in western Afghanistan that the US-led coalition said killed 136 Taleban, police said yesterday.
Afghan boy cries after US troops murder his family - Nangarhar Province
03.05.07. Propaganda press.
Civilian deaths 'deeply shame' US
08.05.07. BBC / ICH. An American commander in Afghanistan (Col John Nicholson) has said that he is "deeply ashamed" by the killings of 19 Afghan civilians by US Marines in early March. … "We made official apologies on the part of the US government and payments of about $2,000 for each death," he said, after US officials visited some of the families left bereaved by the incident. Further reportage by Josh White in the Washington Post here .
As Bad As Haditha
09.05.07. L. Martinez, abc.
| Paying for Murder. From A History of Wales by John Davies. "The GALANAS of a man was the fine which had to be paid to his kindred ... if he were killed." The word “galanas” is from the Old North of Wales. It was codified and promulgated in The Law by Hywel Dda at Whitland, in about 930 AD, although it had been in use for much longer. (Information from my webmaster, Pete Dewell) U.S. Pays and Apologizes to Kin of Afghans Killed by Marines 09.05.07. D. Cloud, NY Times. “We made official apologies on the part of the U.S. government” and paid $2,000 for each death. (NB: I heard a reporter on Channel 4 news (09.05.07) say “that’s a LOT.”) Coalition delivers 'solatia' payments to Nangarhar families 12.05.07. COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE- 82, black anthem, The payments came in the aftermath of a confrontation between a militant attacker and Coalition forces March 4 on Highway 1 in the Markoh Bazaar area of Nangarhar Province. A suicide vehicle bombing initiated an attack that left 19 civilians dead, 37 injured and others with property damage. Tomgram: The Nearly Two Million Dollar Gap 13.05.07. Tom Englehardt. What Price Slaughter? In New York and Jalalabad, Human Life Is Valued Differently -- by the U.S. Government. • The value of an innocent civilian slaughtered by al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 to his or her family: $1.8 million. • The value of an innocent civilian slaughtered at Haditha, Iraq, by U.S. Marines: $2,500. • The value of an innocent civilian slaughtered by U.S. Marines near Jalalabad, Afghanistan: $2,000. U.S. paid nearly $31 million in condolence payments to Iraqis, Afghanis 06.01.07. McClatchy. The report, released Thursday, is the most detailed public study of compensation payments in the two wars. It found, for example, that the Defense Department paid $26 million to settle 21,450 claims, or an average of $1,212 per claim. … But the department doesn't indicate how many of those payments went for killed civilians, injured civilians or for property damage. U.S. officials have never released statistics on how many civilians have been killed by U.S. troops. |
The Good American
10.05.07. Scott Ritter, Truthdig/Tom Paine. It turns out that the Iraqis aren’t like German or Japanese people at all, but rather a fiercely independent (if overly complex) nation deeply resentful of a so-called liberation which has brought them nothing but pain and agony, primarily at the hands of those who have, unbidden, “freed” them from their past. The fact that the Iraqis resent the ongoing American occupation, and choose to express this resentment through violent resistance instead of submissive passivity, is in turn resented by many of the Legion’s membership. … In Dershowitz’s tortured legal brain the events at Haditha and elsewhere, including the Marine massacre of civilians in Afghanistan, likewise assume legitimacy in this newfound legal defense of “legitimate bellicose reprisal.”
They (the Americans) see a 9/11 terrorist in every house; they want to rush in and handcuff people," Shinwari said. "If they let the Afghan forces go in first, they can prevent a lot of problems."
Afghans Growing Irate Over Casualties
12.05.07. Pamela Constable, Washington Post. Early May 2, U.S. Special Operations units surrounded and attacked the compound here in the eastern province of Nangahar, believing it was being used by insurgents as a bomb factory, according to Afghan news reports. .. In the raid, they killed six civilians, including two women and a girl of 13, according to witnesses. … Generally, there tend to be more airstrikes in Afghanistan than in the war in Iraq. …
Afghan president visits bombed village
16.05.07. Afghan President Hamid Karzai met villagers in a remote valley where dozens of civilians were killed in US-led raids last month and said he had told foreign forces to take more care.
Conway Condemns Afghanistan Apology
18.05.07. military.com. The top Marine Corps officer took issue Thursday with statements made by Army commanders in Afghanistan that appeared to find fault with Corps special operations troops involved in a friendly-fire incident March 4.
"I would just as soon that no one - in any chain of command - apologize or talk about 'terrible, terrible mistakes' or those types of wrong doings," Conway said. "I think he was premature to apologize." The overall Army spec ops commander in the Middle East, Maj. Gen. Francis Kearney, kicked the first-to-deploy Marine Forces Special Operations Company out of Afghanistan a few weeks after the incident in Nangahar province, initiating an investigation of the unit's reaction to a roadside bomb ambush that ultimately left 12 civilians dead. The unprecedented move sent the newly-formed Marine spec ops community into crisis mode, with the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based command recalling six members of the unit back to headquarters and relieving the company commander and his senior enlisted advisor of their jobs. … Kearney deemed the initial evidence compelling enough to launch a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry.
Afghanistan: UN to track civilian casualties more closely.
29.05.07. Relief web. The increasing number of civilian causalities in the armed conflict in Afghanistan has prompted the UN to set up a database of information on non-combatants affected by the insurgency. In the first four months of 2007 alone, up to 380 civilians were killed in military operations by all sides in Afghanistan, the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.
Afghans dispute U.S. version of raid casualties.
30.05.07. Noor Rahman, Altertnet. The U.S. military said coalition and Afghan troops killed six Taliban and arrested four in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, though a provincial official and residents said the casualties were villagers.
According to a coalition statement there were no coalition or civilian casualties suffered during a firefight that erupted in an operation in the mountains of Nangarhar province. The statement did not mention the location in Nangarhar, but Dadak Zalmai, the chief of Khogiani district, said there was a pre-dawn raid on a house in his district.
"The troops killed three civilians and took four with them," Zalmai said. … Several residents said seven civilians, including women and children, were killed and eight wounded in the raid. … More than 1,300 civilians have been killed by violence in the past 16 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period in the insurgency since the Taliban's ouster in late 2001. … The [Taliban's] elusive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, on Wednesday demanded formation of an independent panel of Afghans, the Red Cross and journalists to investigate civilian deaths.
More Afghan Civilian Deaths
'Civilians dead' in Nato assault
01.05.07. BBC / ICH. At least 30 civilians were killed during recent fighting in the Afghan province of Herat, police and government officials say. They say that women and children were among the victims.
Afghan president criticizes civilian deaths at the hands of NATO forces
02.05.07. AP, Canada.com. Afghans can no longer accept civilian deaths from international military operations, President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday amid reports 51 villagers were killed during a U.S.-led offensive against the Taliban in western Afghanistan.
US blames [Taliban] for Afghan civilian deaths
03.05.07. AFP / Raw Story
Former Afghan prime minister shot dead
03.05.07. Gulf Times.
Afghan governor killed in suicide attack
04.05.07. Hindustani Times / ICH. Governor Hakim Taniwal along with his driver was killed outside his office in Gardez, the provincial capital, General Abdul Hanan Raufi said.
Mounting civilian casualties harming coalition stand in Afghanistan
04.05.07. Daily Times. * Indiscriminate firing and midnight house search operations driving civilians away from US-backed government
The "No Mercy" Doctrine Strikes Again in Afghanistan
04.05.07. Chris Floyd, Empire Burlesque. Last week, we reported here about the revelations in the UK's Sunday Telegraph that U.S. forces in Afghanistan have been told to show "no mercy" in using "uncompromising" force against any suspected Taliban insurgents. … This week, we saw yet another example of the uncompromising aggression ordered by the Bush Administration in the supposedly liberated land:
NATO Looking Into Civilian Death Reports
04.05.07. By FISNIK ABRASHI, AP. The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan has said international and Afghan troops killed 136 suspected Taliban fighters in the Zerkoh Valley of Herat province last week, in some of the deadliest fighting so far this year. However, an investigation by Afghan officials has found that 51 civilians died, prompting President Hamid Karzai to warn that Afghans can no longer accept such losses.
More civilians killed in US-led raid - Afghan official
04.05.07. Saeed Ali Achakzai, Reuters/ Relief Web. The civilians were killed in bombing on Tuesday night in the Maroof district of southern Kandahar province, near the border with Pakistan, said Janan Gulzai a provincial assembly member.
U.S. Occupation Forces Kill 70 Civilians in 1 Week
05.05.07. ICH. In the Maroof district of southern Kandahar province coalition forces bombed an area where they thought Taliban forces might be. They killed thirteen innocent Afghanis, bringing the total to seventy in the week.
Afghanistan: 51 civilians killed by U.S. led occupation forces
05.02.07. GMA. Regional officials said Wednesday that 51 villagers, some of them women and children, were killed in recent fighting in western Afghanistan. The U.S.-led occupation said it had no reports of civilian deaths
U.S. occupation forces kill 21 civilians in Afghanistan
09.05.07. AP, IHT. Airstrikes called in by U.S. Special Forces soldiers fighting "insurgents" in southern Afghanistan killed at least 21 civilians, officials said Wednesday. One coalition soldier was also killed.
At least 30 Afghan civilians killed in U.S. strike
09.05.07. aljazeera. A U.S. air strike in southern Afghanistan killed more than 30 civilians, including women and children -- the latest in a series of attacks by occupation forces against innocent civilians. … But a spokesman for the U.S. army denied that there have been civilian casualties, claiming that U.S. soldiers killed a "significant" number of [rebels]. "We don't have any report of civilian casualties. There are [enemy] casualties — I think the number is significant," Maj. William Mitchell said without mentioning an exact figure.
Late Tuesday, war planes attacked the Sangin region of the southern Helmand province, where NATO-led troops are battling the Taliban, Assadullah Wafa, the provincial governor said.
Herat police chief Mohammad Shafiq Fazli told AFP an investigation had found that "there were at least 30 civilians, including women and children."
The human cost of war in Afghanistan
09.05.07. Economist / ICH. The killing of large numbers of civilians by American forces, through undisciplined firing or as a result of their heavy reliance on air-strikes, has been a bitter feature of the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq-just as it was in Vietnam.
CIA-backed raid 'killed 50 Afghan villagers'
10.05.07. T. Coghlan, Telegraph. Military specialists with the CIA were among a US force accused of killing more than 50 civilians during the hunt for a Taliban commander in Afghanistan
Suicide bombing kills 3 civilians in E. Afghanistan
10.05.07. English people.
U.S.-led raid kills 40 civilians in Afghanistan
10.05.07. Saeed Ali Achakzai, reuters / ICH/uruk. SPIN BOLDAK. At least 40 civilians were killed in an air strike in Afghanistan by foreign forces, witnesses said on Thursday, but the U.S.-led coalition said only rebels were hit and it knew of no other casualties. The deaths on Tuesday in the southern province of Helmand, if confirmed, would raise the civilian toll at the hands of foreign troops to 110 in the past two weeks.
Afghans Say Civilian Toll in Strikes Is Much Higher Than Reported
11.05.07. Carlotta Gall, NY Times.
U.S. Confirms Afghan Civilian Casualties
11.05.07. Noor Khan, AP / ICH. The U.S.-led coalition confirmed that a battle between U.S. forces and [Taliban militants] in southern Afghanistan caused civilian casualties, killing at least one child, and said a joint Afghan-U.S. investigation is under way.
Afghan civilian deaths damaging NATO
13.05.07. Carlotta Gall / David Sanger, IHT. ‘What angers Afghans are not just the bombings but also the raids of homes, the shootings of civilians in the streets and at checkpoints and the failure to address those issues over the five years of war. Afghan patience is wearing dangerously thin, officials warn. … The anger is visible in Zerkoh, a farming village in the largely peaceful western Afghan province of Herat, where U.S. airstrikes left 57 villagers dead, nearly half of them women and children, on April 27 and 29. … In the words of one foreign official in Afghanistan, the Americans went after one guerrilla commander and created a hundred more.’
Collateral Disasters
14.05.07 Newsweek. In Afghanistan's lopsided ethos, every civilian death counts against the Americans.
EU complains about civilian deaths in Afghanistan
14.05.07. Anatolian times. German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Monday that he had complained to NATO about the increased number of civilian casualties during US-led military operations in Afghanistan.
‘Appropriate’ force used in civilian death incident: US
16.05.07. Raw Story. Brigadier General Perry Wiggins defended the actions of the commander on the scene as necessary and appropriate to protect his unit, which came under attack April 27 and 29 in the remote Zerkoh valley in Herat province. . Air strikes were called in by the US special operations forces during the fighting, and Afghan and UN officials later said as many as 50 civilians, including women and children, were killed. … The commander of the unit was not identified. … The coalition initially denied there had been civilian casualties, saying 136 [Taliban] fighters were killed. It said later it was investigating.
Afghans Say Gunfire From NATO Soldiers Wounded 5 Civilians
17.05.07. NY Times / anti-war.com.
ISAF artillery round injures 4 Afghan civilians
18.05.07. English People. The incident occurred near Garmsir village on Thursday when ISAF and Taliban militants exchanged fire, the statement said.
Afghan deaths caused by US Special Forces stir unease in NATO
24.05.07. AP/ICH. Three recent U.S. special forces operations that killed at least 90 Afghan civilians have caused friction with America's NATO partners, who are concerned the killings hurt the standing of Western troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.
Afghan civilian deaths stir NATO unease
25.05.07. J. Straziusco / P. Ames, USA Today. Recent U.S. special forces operations that killed 90 Afghan civilians have caused friction with America's NATO partners, who are concerned that such deaths hurt the standing of Western troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.
The deaths involved troops from the 12,000-member U.S.-led coalition and not NATO's 37,000-member International Security Assistance Force. But NATO officials fear that Afghans and others don't understand the distinction.
Afghan demonstrators 'shot dead'
28.05.07. BBC. Seven people have died after Afghan police opened fire on demonstrators in Shiberghan, the capitol of Jowzhan province, officials say.
16 Civilians Among 39 Dead in Afghan Clashes
29.05.07. anti-war.com
UPDATE A massacre in Afghanistan ( late Tuesday night, May 8, 2007 – May 11, 2007) 12.11.07. Prof. Marc W. Herold, The Afghan Victim Memorial Project / uruknet. In what must surely be labeled a massacre, some 50-80 civilians were killed in a string of small villages including Sarwan Qala and Sra Ghar. An occupation force convoy was attacked in the afternoon of May 8th. Later U.S. Special Forces called-in close in support. US/NATO war planes then bombed houses where they believed Taliban were hiding. Even the puppet governor of Helmand! Province, Assadullh Wafa, admitted that 21 civilians had died in the bombing (a figure widely cited by the Associated Press which routinely and uncritically publishes accounts by the U.S. military and the Kabul client regime). Others put the deaths much higher. A resident of the bombed area, Mohammad Asif, said five homes in the village of Soro were bombed, killing 38 and injuring more than 20. "Foreign troops are killing Afghans every day, but our government has closed its eyes and does not see our casualties," local resident Haji Ibrahim said. Residents disputed that Taliban fighters were involved. "There were no Taliban in our area," Mohammad Rahim, a resident of Sangin, told Reuters by phone, adding he had seen 24 bodies in three houses. The village of Sarwan Qala was demolished. The photo shows one of the many civilians injured. Carlotta Gall, one of the few independent news reporters, wrote ... |
3. Some “Insurgent” / “Taliban” Deaths
Operation Silicon launched in South: 136 [militants] killed in Afghanistan: NATO
01.05.07. Daily Times. * Coalition forces say 87 Taliban killed in Herat on Sunday
NATO: 75 [Taliban] Killed In Afghanistan
01.05.07. CBS. Death Toll Claimed After First Day Of New Offensive Involving 2,000 Troops. NATO-led troops killed 75 suspected insurgents on the first day of an offensive against Taliban militants in a valley in southern Afghanistan, a British military officer said Tuesday.
More than 60 "Insurgents" Killed in Occupied Afghanistan
08.05.07. VOA / ICH. Afghan military officials say more than 60 insurgents have been killed in a joint Afghan and NATO operation in southern Helmand province.
13.05.07. Channel 4 video report: Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah killed.
A Look at Mullah Dadullah's Life
13.05.07. AP/Forbes.
Death of Taliban chief leaves void
14.05.07. Christian Science Monitor. The killing of charismatic Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah on Sunday in a US-led operation may cripple the insurgent group.
Air strikes kill 60 [Taliban] in Afghanistan
16.05.07. stuff.co nz / ICH. The joint operation involving foreign and Afghan security forces took place in the Zharai district of Kandahar, police chief Esmatullah Alizai told Reuters. Or, put another way … Air raids 'target Afghan villages' (15.05.07. aljazeera / ICH). James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, quoted Taliban sources as saying that the air strikes had killed seven people. The Taliban claimed all those killed were civilians attending a wedding party, Bays said. The police chief, Aliai, said ‘60 Taliban militants were killed in a Nato-led aerial operation…’
Six "Taliban" militants killed in occupied Afghanistan
16.05.07. Hindustani Times / ICH. Afghan soldiers killed six Taliban insurgents in Nuristan province of northeastern Afghanistan, provincial governor Tamim Nuristani said.
NATO stumped by air strike on [Taliban] in western Afghanistan
18.05.07. Earthtimes. NATO forces in Afghanistan on Friday said they did not launch an air strike in western Afghanistan that according to local officials killed 14 Taliban and injured 10.
18 suspected [Taliban] killed in clashes in southern Afghanistan
24.05.07. Monsters and Critics / ICH. Occupation forces killed several [Taliban] fighters and destroyed two enemy positions during the six-hour battle. Seven foreign and six Afghan [militants] – including Mullah Saifullah, a local Taliban commander - were killed Wednesday in the Maiwand district of Helmand province in fighting with Afghan police and coalition forces, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Sunday: Afghan clash kills 10 [militants], 2 policemen
27.05.07. Xinhuanet / ICH. A clash killed 10 [Taliban militants] and two Afghan policemen in the southern Kandahar province, a local official said Sunday.
Taliban ambush leaves 24 dead
28.05.07. my telus / ICH. Taliban militants ambushed U.S.-led occupation and Afghan forces escorting supply trucks in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle the coalition said killed an estimated two dozen militants, though villagers said Monday seven civilians also died.
More than 20 [Taliban], four police killed in Afghan clashes
30.05.07. Monsters and Critics. Afghan and US-led occupation forces killed more than 20 suspected Taliban fighters while four police were killed in a series of ambushes and attacks by militants and a raid on a militant compound, officials said Wednesday.
4. Some Pakistani Deaths
Pakistan, Afghan troops trade fire for second day; 12 dead
15.05.07. dawn co / ICH. Afghan and Pakistan forces traded fire across their border for a second day on Monday, as officials announced that eight policemen and four civilians had died in the fighting
At least 4 "militants" killed in Pakistani raid on training camp near Afghan border
22.05.07. IHT / ICH. Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a militant training camp near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing four suspected militants, security officials said.
Roadside Bomb Kills 2 Pakistani Soldiers
26.05.07. NY Times.
5. Some Afghan Soldiers and Police Deaths
Five Afghan soldiers killed rescuing Czech diplomat
03.05.07. GULF TIMES.
Roadside bombs kill at least 10 Afghan police
24.05.07. Reuters. A roadside bomb killed six policemen and a district chief in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Paktika on Thursday, the provincial governor said.
Sunday: Six Afghan police die in road blast
27.05.07. Jazeera / ICH. A roadside bomb has killed six Afghan police officers in southeastern Afghanistan, while another exploded near a convoy of foreign occupation troops in eastern Kunar province.
Ambush Kills 16 Policemen on Highway in Afghanistan
31.01.07. Carlotta Gall, NY Times.
6. Coalition Deaths (Varying Figures given)
147 soldiers dead in Iraq, 54 in Afghanistan - the human cost of 'humanitarian intervention'
06.05.07. R. Whitaker, Independent. Since Tony Blair took office a decade ago, he has committed British forces to action more often, and in more conflicts, than any Prime Minister since 1945.
At least 319 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan since 2001, Defense Dept. says
06.05.07. NC Times.
FACTBOX-Military Deaths in Afghanistan
07.05.07. Reuters.
NATO/U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES
• United States 388
• Canada 54
• Britain 54
• Spain 20
• Germany 18
• Other nations 39
• TOTAL: 573
Danish soldier injured in Afghanistan dies of his wounds
03.05.07. AP/ IHT / ICH.
[Taliban] gunfire kills UK soldier
03.05.07. Monsters and Critics.
Two U.S. soldiers shot dead at Afghanistan prison
07.05.07. Alertnet. A man in Afghan army uniform shot dead two U.S. soldiers at the high-security Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, the U.S. military said.
Toll hits 320 in Afghanistan, Pakistan
08.05.07. AP.
U.S., Pakistani soldiers killed in border clash
14.05.07. NBC. 3 U.S. troops, 4 Pakistanis wounded in ambush by ‘unknown assailants’
U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan, Region
16.05.07. Forbes. As of Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at least 323 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures May 16, 2007.
3 German troops killed in Afghanistan
19.05.07. LA Times. Seven bystanders also died in the suicide bombing. The casualties were the worst suffered by Germany in almost four years.
Clashes leave 28 [Taliban], one policeman dead in Afghanistan
22.05.07. Monsters and Critics / ICH. Afghan border police killed some 20 suspected Taliban militants after the rebels attacked an outpost in the eastern province of Khost, while eight militants and one policeman were killed in a separate clash in southern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday
Afghanistan: Canadian occupation force soldier killed
25.05.07. Channel 4 news. A roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan has killed a Canadian soldier, a Canadian military spokesman said. The death brings to 55 the number of US and Nato troops killed in Afghanistan this year.
US deaths in Afghanistan, region
25.05.07. Mercury news. As of Friday, 25 May 2007, at least 325 of the U.S. Military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.
British Soldier Killed, Four Others Wounded in Afghanistan
26.05.07. Canada com.
Seven dead in NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan
30.05.07. 30.05.07. Alertnet / ICH. Troops responding to the scene were ambushed by enemy fighters and called for an air strike to eliminate the threat, NATO said. 5 reported to be americans. A
7. Suicide Attacks
Two Afghans killed in attack on US firm
28.05.07. Attack aimed at U.S. private security contractors.
8. Future Deaths
REPORTS
Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Policy
19.04.07. Directive 2060.02, Department of Defense (DoD)
Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program
11.05. CRS update.
ARTICLES
Study suggests cancer risk from depleted uranium
08.05.07. J. Randerson, Guardian. Depleted uranium, which is used in armour-piercing ammunition, causes widespread damage to DNA which could lead to lung cancer, according to a study of the metal's effects on human lung cells. The study adds to growing evidence that DU causes health problems on battlefields long after hostilities have ceased.
Radiation & Another One Of Those Endless 911 'Coincidences'
09.05.07. Rense.com / Ziopedia. Includes stories Radiation Shows 9-11 Pentagon Hit Not By 757: Something With DU? and Depleted Uranium Released During Canadian Plane Crash . … The AMEC construction firm is currently in the process of closing all its offices in the United States.
Thousands of Nuclear Arms Workers See Cancer Claims Denied or Delayed
12.05.07. Chandler / Warrick, Washington Post. ‘Later, when doctors discovered the first of 19 malignant tumors on his bladder, McKenzie followed the same torturous path as thousands of nuclear weapons workers with cancer: He filed a claim for federal compensation. It was denied. Unable to access secret government files, or even some of his own personnel records, McKenzie could not sufficiently prove that he was exposed to something that may have made him sick. Nor can most of the 104,000 other workers, retirees and family members who have sought help from a federal program intended to atone for decades of hazardous working conditions at scores of nuclear weapons facilities around the country.’
Contingencies for nuclear terrorist attack
12.05.07.J. Sterngold, Sfgate/ Legit gov. Government working up plan to prevent chaos in wake of bombing of major city. ‘As concerns grow that terrorists [the Bush regime] might attack a major American city with a nuclear bomb, a high-level group of government and military officials has been quietly preparing an emergency survival program that would include the building of bomb shelters, steps to prevent panicked evacuations and the possible suspension of some civil liberties... Fred Ikle said that the government should plan how it could restrict civil liberties and enforce a sort of martial law in the aftermath of a nuclear attack, but also have guidelines for how those liberties could be restored later.
see also Bush orders contingency plans for attack on U.S. (Washington Post/LA Times): President Bush issued a formal national security directive Wednesday ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surprise, "decapitating" attack on the federal government, and assigned responsibility for coordinating such plans to the White House. (NB: Now what’s cooking in the neo-con White House? Surprise’ like a ‘Pearl Harbour’ attack ?)
Nuclear war play
15.05.07. N. Berman, Alternet. Replete with fake blood and hired nuclear fallout victim actors, the Pentagon is in the midst of simulating one of the largest nuclear detonation exercises ever.
Depleted Uranium weapons can cause lung cancer
15.05.07. DailyIndia.com/uruknet. Researchers at University of Southern Maine in Portland have revealed that Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons may cause cancer, though so far the US government has been denying the possibility. Previous research at the US government's Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico found that people exposed to DU dust were at little extra risk of developing cancers.
U.S. to let START nuclear treaty expire
22.05.07. yahoo / legit gov. The United States plans to let a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia expire in 2009 and replace it with a less formal agreement that eliminates strict verification requirements and weapons limits, a senior U.S. official says.
Is Bush Leading Us to Nuclear War?
23.05.07. William D. Hartung, F. Berrigan, Alternet. ‘While the United States demands that other countries end their nuclear programs, the Bush administration is busy planning a new generation of nuclear weapons known as Complex 2030.”
Prime sites for nuclear power stations identified
24.05.07. Vidal, Macalister, Guardian. ( NB: The British government insists on making Great Britain an even greater ‘terrorist’ target – less safe. Nevermind ‘ordinary’ accidents and future deaths from nuclear power stations)
FACTBOX-Cluster bombs exact deadly toll for years
25.05.07. NBC/anti-war.com. The U.S. Air Force used cluster bombs intensively during the Vietnam War, pounding Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam with some 67,000 munitions. Many of the bomblets remain unexploded more than 30 years after the end of the conflict.
- Cluster bombs have also been used in Afghanistan , the Falkland Islands, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Chechnya and Lebanon.
More than 70 countries push for cluster bomb ban
25.05.07. Reuters.
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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK
The url to The Dead in Afghanistan is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/05/dead-in-afghanistan-may-2007.html
Shorter url: http://tinyurl.com/27v97a
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Footnote
[1] Deaths from anti-war.com
Wednesday: 312 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 302 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 2 Britons, 82 Iraqis Killed; 70 Iraqis Injured
Friday: 1 GI, 63 Iraqis Killed; 58 Iraqis Wounded; 130 Iraqi Soldiers Poisoned
Sunday (22.04.07): Sunday: 3 GIs, 102 Iraqis Killed; 166 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 GI, UK Soldier, 52 Iraqis Killed; 80 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 90 Iraqis Killed, 158 Wounded
Friday: 3 GIs, 47 Iraqis Killed, 37 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 81 Iraqis Killed, 61 Wounded
Bloody Sunday: 12 GIs, 118 Iraqis Killed
Monday: 2 GIs, 128 Iraqis Killed; 90 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: (08.05.07) 2 GIs, 114 Iraqis Killed, 127 Wounded, 30 Kidnapped
Wednesday: 1 GI, 80 Iraqis Killed; 137 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 62 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 2 GIs, 77 Iraqis Killed; 87 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 6 GIs Killed, More Captured; 40 Iraqis Killed
Sunday: 2 GIs, 146 Iraqis Killed, 201 Iraqis Injured
Monday (14.05) : 6 GIs, 1 Dane, 95 Iraqis Killed
Tuesday: 78 Iraqis Killed, 114 Wounded
Wednesday: 147 Iraqis Killed, 243 Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 78 Iraqis Killed; 36 Iraqis Wounded, 12 Kidnapped
Friday: 5 GIs, 89 Iraqis Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 6 GIs, 95 Iraqis Killed; 65 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday 20.05.07. : 7 GIs, 1 Korean Soldier, 97 Iraqis Killed; 94 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 Briton, 50 Iraqis Killed; 69 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 105 Iraqis Killed, 121 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 GIs, 127 Iraqis Killed, 98 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 6 GIs, 101 Iraqis Killed; 81 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 6 GIs, 37 Iraqis Killed; 38 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday Attacks Leave 8 GIs, 91 Iraqis Dead, 116 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday 27.05.07: 3 GIs, 88 Iraqis Killed; 52 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 13 GIs, 169 Iraqis Killed; 146 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 4 GIs, 66 Iraqis Killed; 97 Wounded
Friday: 29 Iraqis Killed, 29 Injured
Further: Contractor Deaths in Iraq Soar to Record
19.05.07. Broder, Risen: NY Times / democratic underground. At least 917 mercenaries killed; more than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job. Casualties among private contractors [mercenaries] in Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the 'civilians' who work alongside the American military in the war zone, according to new government numbers.
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UPDATE
31.05.07. This morning, I had an email from Major Gilmore. My emails to him had been 'blocked.' It is no good writing that one wishes to communicate and then give an email address that is unreachable. This has now been rectified.
Top General underestimates Iraq War fatalities in Memorial Day media appearance
29.05.07. Michael Roston, Raw Story/URUK. ‘"When you take a look at the life of a nation and all that's required to keep us free, we had more than 3,000 Americans murdered on 11 September, 2001. The number who have died, sacrificed themselves since that time is approaching that number," General Pace told CBS Early Show's Harry Smith. "And we should pay great respect and thanks to them for allowing us to live free."
Other Index articles on Afghanistan:
Index on Afghanistan (Updated to 31/08/06)
Index on Afghanistan : September 2006
Index on Afghanistan : October 2006
Index on Afghanistan : November 2006
Index on Afghanistan : December 2006
Index on Afghanistan : January 2007
Index on Afghanistan : February 2007
Index on Afghanistan : March 2007
Index on Afghanistan: April 2007: Murder in Nangarhar
NATO: The Bathtub of Unreadiness(Updated 12/01/07)
Afghanistan : NATO is now US-ATO
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Tags : Index Research, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Taliban, civilian death, NATO, Nuclear, Amnesty aireport2007, depleted uranium
Labels: Afghanistan, civilian death, depleted uranium, Index Research, NATO, Nuclear, Pakistan, Taliban
posted by Sarah Meyer @ 5/29/2007 04:27:00 pm
Naomi Klein 
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