Mayors campaign condemns air attack on Afghan village

August 30, 2008

By AT

The Cities Are Not Targets! project does not, unfortunately, have the capacity to respond to every attack on cities and towns, much less villages.  But occasionally an attack on a small populated area is so horrific that we would be delerict not to speak out.  Tragically, Azizabad, Afghanistan, is just such a case.  AT

This press release was used by an Italian Internet news service; for those who speak Italian click here.

NOTE: The AC-130 is no ordinary warplane.  This UTube link provides a portrait of the gunship accompanied by stirring music.  There you will find further links to AC-130s in operation.  This one shows things from the gunners perspective.  The 'god-like' power of the crew as they methodically blast away at buildings, vehicles, and individuals, who have no means of either resisting or surrendering, is very disturbing to watch; be forewarned.  
The video shows an attack against an isolated area around a mosque, in which the mosque is spared but little else.  It strongly resembles a war-game video, and the repeated cries of "Bang! Bang!" by the gunner only heighten that impression.  Note also that any moving figure is automatically a "guy" although the infra-red image resolution gives no basis for distinguishing men and women, or for that matter armed and unarmed.  The video provides no background on what gave the gunship commanders and crew confidence that they were attacking a Taliban target.  Obviously, someone gave them clearance to kill anything that moved.  This makes it quite clear how, when the intelligence is faulty, an AC-130 is capable of causing huge civilian casualties; and even if it is reliable, how many civilians could easily get caught up in the carnage.   

PRESS RELEASE

Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign

30 August 2008

 

Mayors Campaign, reacting to the bombardment of Azizabad,

Calls for an End to the Use of Airpower in Populated Areas of Afghanistan

 

Amidst growing controversy surrounding the use of airpower in Afghanistan, on Friday 22 August, the village of Azizabad in Herat Province came under intense fire from a US AC-130 gunship.  In a village of less than 800 inhabitants, Afghan Government sources reported that 90 people were killed; a UN team has confirmed this and has given the number of children killed as 60 children.  The attack occurred at night. 

US forces said the operation was conducted on the basis of reports that a high-level Taliban official was in the village and acknowledges only 5 civilian deaths.  The International Herald Tribune reports that, according to a tribal leader in the region, people in the village were gathering in memory of a man killed last year who was anti-Taliban.  Haji Tor Jan Noorzai said, ‘I am 100 percent confident that someone gave the [dis]information due to a tribal dispute.  The Americans are foreigners and do not understand.  These people they killed were enemies of the Taliban.”

President Hamid Karzai has denounced the attack and has dismissed an Afghan Army general responsible for the operation with the United States. 

Mr. Aaron Tovish, International Director of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, said, “Even if a Taliban leader were in the village, such an all out attack from the air would not have been justified.  This is not the way to win the struggle against terrorism; it is the way to prolong it.”

The 2020 Vision Campaign of Mayors for Peace calls for a ban on the use of explosive force in populated areas.  The AC-130 carries two types of artillery cannons, the 40mm Bofors and the 105mm Howitzer.  The destruction of homes and other structures in the village would suggest that these cannon were used in the attack.  The use of such powerful weapons at night against a small village is a sure prescription for civilian casualties. 

According to the IHT, the Afghan Government will be “announcing initiatives to prevent such heavy loss of civilian life.”  Mr. Tovish said, “We urge, in the strongest terms, that these initiatives include an outright ban on the use of explosive force in populated areas, including of course airpower.  We call on the Afghan Government to engage local government representatives in the formulation of the new policies, as they are the ones who must cope with the disastrous impact of the current practices.”

The Cities Are Not Targets! Project is also resolutely opposed to the use of explosive force in populated areas by non-state actors.  The Taliban has claimed ‘credit’ for suicide bombers, car bombs, and other attacks that have resulted in the large civilian casualties.  "We call on the Taliban to renounce such tactics forthwith." said Mr. Tovish, "Its record of deliberating attacking civilians and foreign aid workers, however, gives us scant hope that they will change their murderous ways."

For more information on the ‘Cities Are Not Targets!’ project of the 2020 Vision Campaign please see www.2020visioncampaign.org  or call Aaron Tovish +43 676 325 2195.