Don’t bomb an Afghan Wedding Party!

One of surest ways of not winning the war against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan is to keep bombing Afghan wedding parties or their caravans.

According to Rahim Faiez's AP report in the Charleston Daily Mail of July 6th, Afghanistan's President Karzai has ordered an investigation into allegations that missiles from U.S. helicopters struck civilians two days earlier, though the Ministry of Defense said Sunday that the attack killed or wounded 20 militants.

Karzai has repeatedly called for better coordination between Afghan and foreign troops in pursuing militants through populated areas, and he has pleaded for international troops to cut down on civilian casualties. Deaths of ordinary Afghans caused a huge outcry in summer of 2007, but there have been fewer accusations of such killings in recent months.

Karzai's statement quoted allegations from Gov. Tamin Nuristani, the governor of Nuristan province, as saying that 15 civilians were killed and seven wounded.

The U.S.-led coalition insists those killed were militants who had previously attacked a NATO base with mortars. Despite Nuristani's claims, a coalition statement said there are "no official reports of non-combatant injuries or casualties.''

Meanwhile, the chief government official in the Deh Bala district of Nangarhar province said villagers reported that between 30 and 35 people walking in a group toward a wedding were killed in a bombing early Sunday. Up to 10 others were wounded, he said.

Haji Amishah Gul said the group was hit while resting in the shadow of a mountain. Those killed included men, women and children, he said.

One can imagine that young surviving male relatives who have lost their loved ones in such attacks are likely to make every effort to avenge their losses. That is why it is incumbent on the NATO forces in Afghanistan to exercise as much care in fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan as they would if they were fighting in their own countries.

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