The Associated Press reports that the Taliban are suspected of using white phosphorus against civilians in their military campaign at Bala Baluk in the Afghan province of Farah.The independent Afghan Human Rights Commssion made the claim Monday.
Sixteen people were admitted to hospital with burn injuries on 4 May, brought in from the fighting between the U.S. Army and the Taliban in Farah at that time. These patients had suffered serious burn-wounds which doctors believe may have been caused by contact with the combustible chemical white phosphorus, says the
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.
One of the injured civilians was a toddler, Rishta Ullah, said an Afghan doctor. She was photographed by the Associated Press in hospital with her mother.
The American military denied using the incendiary in the battle in Farah province -- which President Hamid Karzai has said killed 125 to 130 civilians -- but had themselves left open the possibility that Taliban militants did.
The US says in the past, Taliban fighters have used white phosphorus, a spontaneously flammable material that leaves severe chemical burns on flesh, at least four times the last two years.
White phosphorus to illuminate a target is legal
Using white phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is considered legitimate under international law, but human rights groups say its use over populated areas can indiscriminately burn civilians and constitutes a war crime.
The IAHRC says it's possible that the chemical warfare agent was used by the Taliban instead.
"The governor of Farah confirmed the possibility that the Taliban had been throwing 'combustible material in areas where people had taken refuge,' said Nader Nadery, an AHRC commission member, speaking to the Associated Press.
U.S. Army spokesmen also were quoted as saying that the Taliban are 'using civilians in Afghanistan as human shields'. "They force civilians into bunkers and then open fire on US and Afghan troops to draw gunfire - with the intention that civilians would be injured and killed.'
The U.S. military says that there 'has been proof that the Taliban have used phosphor many times in Afghanistan', citing 4 proven incidents.
Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service wrote on May 10, 2009 that Taliban operatives are also shaking down villages for money, appear to have forced civilians to remain in buildings that were bombed in the course of a long May 4 firefight.
Gen. David H. Petraeus said on “Fox News Sunday” that a joint U.S.-Afghan investigation team looking into the incident addressed the events leading up to the aerial attack targeting Taliban fighters in which an undetermined number of Afghan civilians were killed.
“The Taliban moved into these villages seeking to extort money from them,” Petraeus said. The Taliban killed and be-headed three villagers and then attacked the Afghan police. This, the general said, led to the police asking the provincial governor for help from the Afghan National Army and coalition forces.
“It was in that response that this very significant firefight broke out that ultimately resulted in the dropping of bombs that clearly killed Taliban and some civilians,” he said. “It appears the Taliban forced the civilians to stay in the houses from which they were engaging our forces.”
Farah Hospital staff treated 16 patients for flash burns
Preliminary findings by the joint investigation team cite evidence that Taliban fighters may have caused civilian casualties in the villages. According to a statement issued jointly by the Afghan government and U.S. Forces Afghanistan yesterday, investigators interviewed the surgeon and staff of the Farah Hospital and the three doctors on duty the day after the incident. They treated 16 patients -- five police and 11 civilians -- for flash burns and small lacerations.
Afghan doctors said the injuries could have resulted from hand grenades or exploding propane tanks.
“The local doctors also confirmed that the Taliban were fighting from the roof tops while forcing the locals to remain in their compounds,” the statement said.
Civilian executed by Taliban:
“Locals receiving medical treatment repeated this information to the doctors several times. The doctors also received a call, while the investigators where present, indicating that the Taliban extremists had executed another civilian in the same village.”
Petraeus said Centcom will conduct a thorough investigation of the May 4 incident, looking for lessons in how to prevent similar events in the future and ensuring the tactical battle doesn’t impede the strategy.
The Afghan-U.S. statement issued yesterday contained a harsh rebuke of the Taliban’s tactics.
“The joint investigation team strongly condemns the brutality of the Taliban extremists deliberately targeting Afghan civilians and using them as human shields,” the statement said.
“Afghan national security forces and coalition forces are committed to [protecting] the lives of Afghan citizens. The Taliban, by contrast, deliberately place civilians in harm’s way and callously and cynically manipulate civilian lives for their political purposes.”
As for the way ahead in Afghanistan, Petraeus said he has received all the troops he has asked for. “That carries all the requests through this calendar year,” he said. “There are requests beyond that, but the decisions don’t need to be made for a number of months, and I’m confident those decisions will be made at that point in time.”
Some U.S. forces have shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, Petraeus said, because the military is short on “enablers” -- engineers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, among other support capabilities -- a condition he said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is trying to fix.
“There are not enough of these in the military,” Petraeus said. “This is why Secretary Gates’ budget addresses these kinds of low-density, high-demand units.”
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