The American military admitted killing eight civilians in the southwestern province of Farah, near the Iranian border, on July 15. The deputy provincial governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli told the AFP news service that nine women, two men and a boy had been killed.

According to a statement from the US-led coalition, a convoy came under attack in the Bakwa district (whose approximately 80,000 residents are Pashtuns). The coalition convoy returned fire and called for close air support on the enemy positions. A house was hit; eight civilians were killed, two others injured, the statement said. It is impossible to say whether this report bears any resemblance to the truth.

As is the norm in such cases, the military statement asserted, Coalition forces never intentionally target non-combatants, and deeply regret any occurrence such as this where civilians are killed and injured as a result of insurgent activity and actions. In fact, the targeting of civilians is an inevitable and necessary part of counter-insurgency operations, aimed at terrorizing the population into submission.

On Thursday, US forces claimed they killed 15 insurgents in northwestern Afghanistan, in Herat province, in another air strike. NATOs International Security Assistance Force, in a statement, asserted that there was no evidence of civilian casualties or accidental damage in the operation.

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