The 2012 Kapisa airstrike refers to a NATO air raid in which seven children and one adult were killed in a village in Nijrab District of Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. The strike took place on 8 February 2012.[1][2][3]

2012 Kapisa airstrike
Date8 February 2012
Location
Giawa village, Nijrab District, Kapisa Province, Afghanistan
Result 7 children between the age of 6-12 and one mentally handicapped 18-year-old

Events

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Kapisa district police chief Abdul Hamid Erkin told AFP: "Two nights ago foreign special forces carried out a raid on a house in Geyawa village in Nejrab district. ... The next morning their plane carried out an airstrike on a house in the village as a result of which seven children and one adult were martyred." He also said commanders of French troops "claimed that the target was a group of Taliban facilitators, but we checked the area and there were no Taliban. ...In fact the people in the area have very strong anti-Taliban feelings."[4][5]

According to Hussain Khan Sanjani, the leader of the Kapisa provincial council: "the victims rounded up sheep and cows and moved them toward a mountainous area behind their homes," he said. "When they got cold, they gathered brush and lighted a fire to keep warm... One airstrike hit a large boulder and the other struck the victims, who were badly burned."[6]

Investigation

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President Hamid Karzai had assigned a delegation "to launch an all-out probe into the NATO bombing in the province of Kapisa", a statement from his office said.[5] He then sent an advisor, Mohammad Zahir Safi, to the area to investigate the incident.[7]

Reactions

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President Hamid Karzai "strongly condemned an airstrike by foreign troops which resulted in the killing of a number of children,".[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NATO airstrike kills Afghan children | Asia-Pasific | Worldbulletin News". Worldbulletin.net. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ^ "NATO investigates report of Afghan civilian deaths". CNN.com. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Airstrike Killed Children, Karzai Says". The New York Times. Associated Press. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  4. ^ "NATO kills children in Afghanistan - News - Politics - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video". Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b [1][dead link]
  6. ^ [2][dead link]
  7. ^ a b "Afghanistan says children killed in NATO airstrike". Reuters. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
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