Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A US military airstrike this week killed 47 civilians heading to a wedding, the head of a government commission reported today.
The airstrike on Sunday in Deh Bala district of Nangarhar province also wounded nine other civilians, said Burhanullah Shinwari, the deputy chairman of the Senate, who led the delegation.
The US military denied at the time that any civilians were killed in the incident. Initially, Afghan officials said 27 civilians had been killed.
Today, US coalition spokesman 1st Lt. Nathan Perry said: "I assure you that civilians are never targeted, and that our forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. This incident regarding the air strike on July 6th is still under investigation by coalition forces."
Shinwari said that 39 of those killed in the airstrike were women and children, including the bride.
The group was targeted twice on Sunday as they walked along with the bride from her village toward the groom's house in another village, Shinwari said.
The nine-man commission was dispatched by President Hamid Karzai to investigate the incident on Tuesday. They returned to Kabul on Thursday. The commission included officials from the Ministry of Defense, the country's intelligence agency and parliament.
Shinwari said the group gathered information from witnesses and victims' relatives.
All those killed in the incident were buried in one cemetery near the village where the attack happened, Shinwari said.
"They were all civilians, with no links to al-Qaida or the Taliban," he said.
The members of the commission gave relatives US$2,000 for every person killed and US$1,000 for those wounded, he said.
The issue of civilian casualties has caused friction between the Afghan government and US and NATO troops, and has weakened the standing of the Western-backed Karzai in the eyes of the population.
More than 2,100 people — mostly militants — have been killed in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year. More than 8,000 people died in attacks last year, according to the UN, the most since the 2001 US-led invasion.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments