Coalition officials in Afghanistan are promising an investigation after troops were sent to Helmand Province to detonate a arsenal of weapons belonging to the Taliban. The ensuing explosion badly damaged nearby homes, and killed at least nine civilians, six of them children.
Details of how this could’ve happened are still unclear, and Afghan officials had initially claimed it was there own commandos who had detonated the cache of weapons, though later this was revised to be members of the US-led coalition, nationality undisclosed.
Either way, there are serious questions to be answered about controlled demolitions of munitions taking place in the middle of a populated area, and with no apparent care taken to evacuate the civilians before the detonation happened.
US officials say they are taking the “allegation” very seriously, although since officials have already confirmed the deaths it appears to be well more than a simple allegation. Either way, both they and the Afghan Defense Ministry have promised investigations.
© Antiwar.com