Afghan President Hamid Karzai Dec. 28 appointed a delegation to begin an investigation of 10 civilian deaths, including eight schoolchildren, believed to have occurred during a raid by international forces in Kunar province. The raid in the Narang district occurred on Dec. 26, and allegedly involved NATO forces, though this has not been confirmed. The same day that Karzai announced the formation of the special delegation, a UN committee released figures that show that civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2009 are up by 10% over 2008. (Jurist, Dec. 29)
This was also the deadliest year ever for US troops in Afghanistan, seeing more than twice as many killed in 2009 compared to the year before. An upstate New York soldier was killed on Dec. 26, bringing the 2009 death toll to 311. In 2008, 155 US service members were killed in Afghanistan. (NY Daily News, Dec. 29)
See our last posts on Afghanistan and the civilian casualties.
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Taliban infiltrator killed CIA officers
A Taliban spokesman said an infiltrator working for the Afghan army carried out the Dec. 31 suicide attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province that killed eight US nationals working for the CIA. (BBC, Dec. 31)