US pays $40000 after 15 Afghans killed in American-led raid

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41 minutes ago

TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. commanders on Tuesday traveled to a poor Afghan village and distributed $40,000 to relatives of 15 people killed in a U.S. raid, including a known militant commander. The Americans also apologized for any civilians killed in the operation.

Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, led Tuesday's delegation into the village of Inzeri, a small collection of stone and mud homes set high in a steep, rocky valley. Insurgents have a strong presence in the region just 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Kabul.

A raid the night of Jan. 19 killed 15 people in Inzeri, including a targeted militant commander named Mullah Patang.

Afghan officials admit that Patang was killed, but villagers say civilians also died and have pressed their complaints with U.S. officials and Karzai.


Julian told villagers that U.S. forces did not come Jan. 19 intending to fight, but opened fire after villagers fired on them. Many Afghan families are armed.

"Perhaps there may have been some people accidentally killed," Julian said as he looked at a mud-brick home where villagers said some Afghans died. "If there was collateral damage, I'm very sorry about that."

On the back of an Afghan army truck, U.S. officials paid $40,000 in Afghan currency to representatives of the 15 people killed — $2,500 for each death plus $500 for two wounded men and $1,500 for village repairs.


Lt. Col. Steven Weir, a military lawyer who helped oversee the payments, said the payments were not an admission by the U.S. that innocents were killed.

"It's a condolence payment," he said. "The villagers said none of them were in the Taliban, just peaceful individuals from the village. So by this payment they will understand it's not our goal to kill innocent people. This may help them understand we're here to build a safer and more secure Afghanistan."

When asked if the U.S. was paying money to relatives of people that the U.S. had wanted to kill or capture, Weir said: "If we did accidentally shoot someone, we want to make that right, and if we have to pay money to someone who didn't deserve it ... it's kind of like it's better to let nine guilty people go free than to jail one innocent person."


Julian on Wednesday planned to meet with elders from neighboring Laghman province.

Karzai said 17 civilians were killed in a Laghman raid on Jan. 7; the U.S. has said it killed 32 militants in that operation. The Afghan president also says U.S. forces killed 16 civilians during a raid in Laghman on Saturday.


read:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jtaz8ci5L2h4fxIcbJzq-YK4p0DwD95VM9000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012701895.html

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/578083

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1. U.S Col. Greg Julian listens . . .

U.S Col. Greg Julian listens to afghan villager elders in Inzeri village in Kapisa province in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009.

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2. You can't pay people off for killing their

families. I hate this crap.

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4. I can't imagine how I'd feel on the receiving end

It underscores the impression that the U.S. military expects that their objectionable and destructive actions can always be mitigated away into eventual acceptance. I'll bet it just burns to accept this cash.

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3. I bet they use the money to buy guns to pop a cap into an American soldier first chance they get

That is what most Americans I know would do if the situation were reversed and we had foreign soldiers over here occupying our country.

Don

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5. they'll probably use it for food

The poverty is incredible in many regions of Afghanistan.