A new U.N. report on Afghanistan shows that U.S. and Afghan government forces have killed more civilians than the Taliban this year.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan reported recently that U.S. airstrikes and Afghan security forces killed more civilians in the first half of 2019 than the Taliban did.
But that hasn’t reduced the civilian casualties caused by U.S. and allied forces. It has made the problem worse.It’s tempting to ascribe the change to the tone set by President Trump, who once proposed killing militants’ family members and boasted: “We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.”
U.S. and allied forces also relied largely on airstrikes to help retake two urban centers held by Islamic State in 2017: Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. Thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire, or blocked by the militants from fleeing. Local militias and special operations units, some of them directed by the CIA, are partly to blame for the increase in civilian casualties.
“It is a catastrophe,” then-Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis told a Senate committee last year. He said U.S. advisors were trying to change the Saudi military’s “culture.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump says he canceled secret Camp David meetings with Taliban leaders, Afghan president"They were coming to the United States tonight," Trump tweeted.
Read more »
Trump calls off secret meeting with Taliban, Afghan leadersJUST IN: Pres. Donald Trump calls off a secret Camp David meeting with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders.
Read more »
Trump calls off secret meeting with Taliban, Afghan leadersWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is saying he has called off a secret Camp David meeting with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders. Trump tweeted Saturday that a meeting slated for the...
Read more »
Trump calls off secret meeting with Taliban, Afghan leadersPresident Donald Trump said Saturday he canceled a secret weekend meeting at Camp David with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders after a bombing this week in Kabul that killed 11 people, including an American soldier, and has called off peace negotiations with the insurgent group. Trump has been under pressure
Read more »
Trump says he cancelled peace talks with Afghan Taliban over attackTaliban fighters, who now control more territory than at any time since 2001, launched fresh assaults on the northern cities of Kunduz and Pul-e Khumri over the past week and carried out two major suicide bombings in the capital Kabul.
Read more »