Major General Curtis Scaparrotti vowed to be careful in the use of airstrikes, a contentious issue here because of the civilian casualties they can cause. -- PHOTO: AP
BAGRAM AIR BASE, (Afghanistan) - THE incoming general in charge of US troops along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border vowed to be careful in the use of airstrikes, a contentious issue here because of the civilian casualties they can cause.
'Difficult to avoid all civilian casualties'
The Afghan government says 140 civilians died in the May 4 battle in Farah province, while American commanders say video evidence recorded by fighter jets and the account of the ground commander suggest no more than 30 civilians were killed, as well as 60-65 Taliban.
In Geneva, UN human rights investigator Mr Philip Alston said about two-thirds of those killed on May 4 appeared to be civilians, citing studies by the United Nations, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and others.
At a ceremony at the main US base at Bagram before several hundred troops, the outgoing commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, said historians would point to the 101st's 15 months in Afghanistan 'as a key shift in momentum' in the almost eight-year war.
Gen McKiernan told the crowd that the 101st targeted 123 insurgent leaders or facilities. Maj Gen Schloesser said more than 180 US and coalition troops died and around 810 had been wounded in eastern Afghanistan in the previous 15 months.
Major General Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, took over command of all troops in 14 provinces in eastern Afghanistan from outgoing Major General Jeffrey Schloesser, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, which has spent the last 15 months in the country.
Maj Gen Scaparrotti took only two questions at a media conference on Wednesday, and was immediately asked about civilian casualties.
'We look very closely at the use of close air support in terms of being deliberate and very precise,' Maj Gen Scaparrotti said. 'We are here to protect the people of Afghanistan and we intend to pursue our operations with that first in mind, and use CAS (close air support) only where we need to protect our force and complete the mission.' 'But we will be careful in its use,' he said.
A US defence official said on Wednesday that the US military's failure to follow tightened rules for aerial strikes likely caused civilian deaths in a May 4 American bombing in western Afghanistan.
The finding comes from an internal review of the incident, said the official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity because the investigation was not complete.
Violence in Afghanistan has ratcheted up the last several weeks, a precursor of the battles likely to take place this summer as 21,000 additional US troops join the fight. -- AP
