List of civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2010)

Andrew Holmes poses with the body of Gul Mudin immediately after he murdered the 15-year-old boy in 2010.

List of civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan in 2010

• February 12, 2010 – 5 Afghan civilians including two pregnant women and a teenage girl were killed when US special forces raided a house in Khataba village, outside the city of Gardez where dozens of people had gathered at the home to celebrate the naming of a newborn baby. The U.S troops tried to cover-up evidence of the botched raid and admitted only month later that they had killed the civilians.^[1][2][3]

• February 14, 2010 – 12 Afghan civilians were killed by NATO missiles during a major U.S.-led offensive against insurgents in southern Afghanistan. ISAF admitted responsibility for the civilian deaths, saying that two rockets missed their target and landed on a compound in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into the incident that occurred less than 24 hours after he had again warned foreign troops to take all precautions to protect Afghan civilians. The United Nations meanwhile estimated that 900 families from the town of Marjah were being temporarily sheltered after fleeing their homes ahead of the large-scale military offensive involving over 15,000 troops.^[4]

• February 15, 2010 – A NATO airstrike killed 5 Afghan civilians and wounded two others in Zhari district, Kandhar, about 23 km west of Kandahar city, after troops patrolling on the ground called in the airstrike. After the airstrike, the patrol "approached the site and determined the individuals had not been emplacing an IED," NATO said in a statement. U.S. Marine Maj.-Gen. Michael Regner, the chief of staff for NATO in Kabul, announced that an investigation would be undertaken "to determine how this happened."^[5]

• February 21, 2010 – 33 civilians were killed in Uruzgan province in a NATO airstrike on a convoy of vehicles. NATO initially stated that the convoy was thought to have contained Taliban insurgents,^[6] however, NATO ground troops arriving after the airstrike found a number of people dead and injured, including women and children.^[7] The Afghan governor of the province, Sultan Ali, has stated that all of the dead were civilians, and the Afghan government condemned the attack, calling it "unjustifiable" and "a major obstacle" to effective counter-terrorism efforts.^[6] The US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has apologised to Afghan president Hamid Karzai and ordered a full investigation into the incident.^[7] In May, the American military released a report blaming the civilian casualties on “inaccurate and unprofessional” reporting by Predator drone operators.^[8]

• April 6, 2010 – French soldiers fired Milan anti-tank missiles on insurgents as well as Afghan civilians in eastern part of Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. Four Afghan civilians were killed. The deaths occurred when both French troops and Afghan security forces came under fire from insurgents and was given the authorisation to fire since there were no civilians visible at the scene of the attack. The investigations also show that while firing missiles at insurgents, they were also Afghan civilians under a tree out of the observer's view.^[9]

• April 12, 2010 – Three men and one woman were killed with 18 others injured when NATO troops opened fire on a bus in southern Afghanistan.^[10]

• January–May 2010 – Twelve US soldiers face trial over a secret "kill team" that allegedly killed Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies. 5 of the soldiers are charged with murdering 3 Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year. 7 other soldiers are accused of covering up the killings as well as a violent assault on a new recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses, including members of the unit smoking hashish stolen from civilians. The Army Times reported that a least one of the soldiers collected the fingers of the victims as souvenirs and that some of them posed for photographs with the bodies. The Guardian newspaper has described the event as "one of the most serious accusations of war crimes to emerge from the Afghan conflict...".^[11] Calvin Gibbs, Jeremy Morlock, Andrew Holmes, Michael Wagnon, and Adam Winfield were first charged with murder in June. In August, the additional charge of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder was added, and seven others were charged with conspiracy or attempting to cover it up.^[12] The alleged victims include Gul Mudin, killed sometime in January; Marach Agha, around February 22; and Mullah Adahdad, who died around May 2.^[13]

• July 23, 2010 – The Sangin airstrike killed a large number of Afghan civilians many of whom were women and children, in the village of Sangin in Nangarhar province. The Afghan government concluded that 39 civilians were killed.^[14]

• August 23, 2010 – 8 Afghan civilians were killed and 12 others injured when NATO-led forces raided a residential house in Tala wa Barfak District, Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. 9 civilians were also taken prisoner.^[15][16]

• October 2010 – The ICRC reports that the number of War casualties in a Kandahar hospital are "hitting record highs". Mirwais Regional Hospital had nearly 1,000 new patients with weapon-related injuries in August and September, what was double the figure a year earlier.^[17] Reto Stocker, the Red Cross chief in Kabul, said the casualties being seen at Mirwais hospital were only "the tip of the iceberg".^[18] At the same time Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that casualties inflicted on ordinary people in northern Afghanistan over the past six months this year has doubled compared to the same period last year.^[19][20]

• October 17, 2010 – U.S. soldier Pfc. David Lawrence walked into Mohebullah prison cell and shot a captured Taliban leader Mullah Mohebullah in the face, killing him. On 25 May 2011, Lawrence was sentenced for premeditated murder of Mullah Mohebullah.^[21]

• November 11, 2010 – An American soldier shot and killed an Afghan National Police officer in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.^[22]

• UN Summary of 2010 – According to United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos, Briefing to the Security Council on Protection of Civilians, New York, 10 May 2011, "[m]ilitary operations by pro-Government forces [in Afghanistan] accounted for some 800 civilian casualties." ^[23]

See also

• Civilian casualties in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

References

1. After denials, US admits Feb. killing of Afghan women | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online
2. US special forces 'tried to cover-up' botched Khataba raid in Afghanistan
3. Oppel Jr, Richard A. (April 5, 2010). "Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid". The New York Times.
4. 12 Afghan civilians killed by NATO missiles
5. Second group of Afghan civilians killed in NATO push
6. Nato strike kills a number of Afghan civilians
7. Air strike kills Afghan civilians
8. Operators of Drones Are Faulted in Afghan Deaths, NYT. May 29, 2010
9. French army claims responsibility for four civilian deaths in Afghanistan
10. NATO troops kill four Afghan civilians in bus
11. McGreal, Chris (September 9, 2010). "US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies'". The Guardian (London).
12. "Army: Soldiers plotted to kill Afghan civilians". Associated Press. August 27, 2010.
13. "Soldiers charged with killing Afghan civilians". Associated Press. June 17, 2010.
14. http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1384558
15. 8 Afghan Civilians Killed in NATO Operations
16. Afghans Say NATO Troops Killed 8 Civilians in Raid
17. ICRC: Kandahar casualties reflect worsening security « RAWA News
18. Beaumont, Peter (October 13, 2010). "Afghan civilian war injuries double in Kandahar conflict". The Guardian (London).
19. Civilian casualties doubled in north: UN « RAWA News
20. Afghans say Nato “as bad as the Taliban” « RAWA News
21. Vaughan, Kevin (May 26, 2011). "Soldier pleads guilty to killing jailed Taliban commander". Denver Post.
22. US soldier kills Afghan policeman
23. http://reliefweb.int/node/400939