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Commander declares resolve to limit civilian casualties in war against the Taliban.
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, center, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, visits site where villagers reportedly died.
AP photo
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Saturday that local villagers were among those wounded at the site of an airstrike on hijacked fuel tankers, declaring his resolve to limit civilian casualties that threaten to undermine the war against the Taliban.
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal inspected the spot where a U.S. fighter jet blasted the hijacked tankers early Friday, killing as many as 70 people. The pre-dawn strike occurred despite McChrystal’s new orders restricting the use of airpower if civilian lives are at risk.
McChrystal also visited a hospital Saturday where the wounded were taken, stooping low to talk with a 10-year-old boy with severe burns, his arms and legs swathed in gauze.
Local officials have said scores of people died in the fiery blast, but it was unclear how many were militants and how many were villagers who rushed to the scene to siphon fuel from the stolen trucks. A NATO team began an official investigation Saturday amid a clamor from European leaders for answers, with some calling the airstrike a “tragedy” and “a big mistake” that must be investigated.
“From what I have seen today and going to the hospital, it’s clear to me that there were some civilians that were harmed at the site,” McChrystal told reporters in Kunduz. He did not say if any civilians were killed.
McChrystal waded through knee-high water to view the blackened NATO tankers, which exploded when a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle jet dropped two 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs on them a few miles (kilometers) outside the main town in northern Kunduz province.
Reporters traveling with him saw about a dozen small yellow fuel cans had survived the blasts. Several were still full of fuel.
Before traveling to the site of the bombing, McChrystal met Afghan leaders in the provincial capital. He expressed sympathy for any civilian losses and said the fight against the Taliban should not come at the expense of civilian lives.
“I am here today to ensure that we are operating in a way that is truly protecting the Afghan people from all threats,” McChrystal said.