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Excessive Force By Marines Alleged
Afghan students protested on March 6, two days after U.S. Marines shot civilians in the aftermath of a suicide attack.
(By Rahmat Gul -- Associated Press)
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"They assured us that they take these allegations very seriously," Nadery said. "This was the first time a military convoy in a civilian area openly shot at civilians, and the nature of this makes it the most serious violation of international humanitarian laws by coalition forces so far."
The rights commission is planning to release the full report today in Kabul, along with other investigations of alleged atrocities by coalition forces and the Taliban. Nadery said the Taliban are responsible for more serious incidents of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, especially over the past five months, when there have been at least 20 suicide bombings and executions of people who have been kidnapped.
"The civilians in Afghanistan are paying the price from this continuous war, and they are mostly affected by the Taliban operations," Nadery said. "Sometimes it happens that they suffer from the misconduct of coalition forces or NATO forces."
John Sifton, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the nature of the fight in Afghanistan has made it difficult for U.S. troops to distinguish between civilians and the enemy. But, he said, the incident appears to show that the Marines went beyond what was necessary.
"These troops are in really difficult circumstances facing these insurgents disguised as civilians," Sifton said. "But it isn't going to solve anything to let loose a fusillade of bullets at everything you see."
The counterattack has some parallels to the alleged shootings of civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Marines were charged with unpremeditated murder after they allegedly gunned down a group of college students who were ordered out of their car immediately after a bomb went off. The Marines then allegedly raided two homes and killed two dozen civilians believing they were under small-arms fire.
On the Afghanistan shootings, Marine Corps officials said it would be standard for an infantry unit to use heavy fire to counterattack ambushers and leave the "kill zone" quickly, but they said there are concerns about reports that the unit killed civilians as far as 10 miles away. Shortly after the incident, the Marine platoon and its parent company were pulled out of the area and are in the Persian Gulf with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Gunnery Sgt. Michael Turner, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune, N.C., said yesterday that the company commander and senior noncommissioned officer were redeployed to North Carolina after they were relieved of command on April 3. Special Operations officers "had lost trust and confidence" in the unit's leadership, Turner said.
