The 2017 Sangin airstrike was an American bombing of the Sangin District in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan stated that "initial inquiries suggest that the airstrikes killed at least 18 civilians, nearly all women and children." A spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry, Dawlat Waziri, denied the reports of civilian casualties but witnesses in the area corroborated the UN report that there were no Taliban members in the area and that U.S. troops had visited the neighborhood days before the incident.[1] The governor of the Helmand Province also corroborated that civilians were killed following the province's own independent analysis of the incident.[2] Elders from Sangin put the number of civilian fatalities higher at 22 killed.[3] Brigadier General Charles H. Cleveland, a spokesman for the international coalition, confirmed that the U.S. had conducted approximately 30 airstrikes in Sangin the week prior.[4] The airstrike was also referred to as the Second Sangin airstrike, seeing as the U.S. had previously conducted an airstrike in Sangin in July 2010 that killed numerous civilians.[5]
| 2017 Sangin airstrike | |
|---|---|
| Part of the War in Afghanistan | |
| Type | Airstrike |
| Location | Sangin, Afghanistan 32°04′24″N 64°50′16″E / 32.07333°N 64.83778°E |
| Target | Taliban (U.S. claim) |
| Date | 10 February 2017 |
| Executed by |   United States Air Force |
| Casualties | 18-45 civilians killed Unknown injured |
  Sangin Location of Sangin within Afghanistan | |
References
edit- ^ Faizy, Sultan; Bengali, Shashank (13 February 2017). "A U.S. airstrike may have killed 18 civilians, 'nearly all women and children,' UN report says". Los Angeles Times. Kabul, Afghanistan. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ Walter Wellman, Phillip (13 February 2017). "UN: US Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill 18 Civilians". Military.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ Mashal, Mujib; Shah, Taimoor (11 February 2017). "NATO Checking Claim that U.S. Airstrikes Killed 22 Afghan Civilians". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ Rasmussen, Sune Engel (12 February 2017). "Afghanistan civilian deaths may have been caused by US airstrike". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ Loyn, David (25 July 2010). "NATO probes reports raid killed 45 Afghan civilians". BBC News. Retrieved 13 August 2010.