Ramadan festivity turns to horror

KABUL - NATO forces in Afghanistan have killed scores of civilians in a single operation, bombing them in their homes as they celebrated the end of Ramadan.

Nato commanders were facing serious questions yesterday after the Afghan Government said at least 40 civilians were killed in the raids in Panjwayi district, near Kandahar.

Nato said only 12 non-combatants died, but Afghan officials in the area said as many as 85 civilians died. If so, it would be the worst single atrocity by Western forces in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taleban.

What was clear was that something terrible happened at Panjwayi, a penniless place in the barren Kandahar province.

Nato says its forces were fighting Taleban insurgents who had been attacking convoys carrying aid and reconstruction supplies.

Bismillah Afghanmal, a Kandahar provincial council member, said Taleban fighters tried to shelter in private houses and that Nato targeted the houses despite the fact civilians were inside.

Witnesses say 25 houses were razed in five hours of bombing.

To compound the misery, the raid came as Afghans were celebrating one of the most important festivals of the Muslim year, Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Similar to a raid where a United States air strike killed 46 civilians when it mistakenly hit a wedding party in Oruzgan in 2002, Afghans were cut down by Western forces amid celebrations.

Major Mark Knittig, a spokesman for Isaf, the Nato force in Afghanistan, said at least 70 Taleban insurgents were killed at Panjwayi. Nato said its initial investigation found that only 12 civilians died, but it had no explanation for the number of funerals taking place.

In Kandahar city, hundreds attended a mass funeral. "Everyone is very angry at the Government and the coalition - there was no Taleban," said Abdul Aye, a villager. He sobbed as he told reporters that 22 members of his extended family were killed. "These tragedies keep continuing."

Another villager, Taj Mohammed, said 10 in his family were killed. "The information was wrong," he said. "There were no militants. Innocent people were killed."

At Mirwisa Mina, a village 16km from Kandahar, another 22 people were buried in a mass grave.

Nato's initial findings were undermined when Zmarai Bashiry, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said police and local officials had confirmed 40 civilians died.

"With insurgents who regard the population as a form of human shield for themselves it obviously makes life very difficult for us, but it does not stop us from making every effort to ensure that we minimise any problems," Nato spokesman Mark Laity said.

But Knittig said Nato used precision strikes. If local officials' accounts that Nato targeted civilian houses are true, it is clear something went badly wrong at Panjwayi.

The United Nations Afghanistan mission said it was "very concerned" at the reports. "The safety and welfare of civilians must always come first and any civilian casualties are unacceptable, without exception," it said.

Nato has agreed to co-operate with an inquiry by the Afghan Defence Ministry.

Afghanmal, however, said: "An investigation has no meaning.

"These kinds of things have happened several times, and they only say 'sorry'.

"How can you compensate people who have lost their sons and daughters?

"The Government and the coalition told the families that there are no Taleban in the area any more. If there are no Taleban, then why are they bombing the area?"

Nato claimed last month that it had successfully cleared the Panjwayi area of Taleban.

- INDEPENDENT