Summary
6 May 2009
Dozens of people, including women and children, have been killed in airstrikes in Western Afghanistan, according to the Red Cross. There are additional reports of more than 25 Taleban fighters also killed.
Reporter:
Martin Patience
A wounded Afghan villager
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Report
A team sent by the Red Cross to the area where the airstrikes occurred saw dozens of bodies at each location they visited. According to a spokeswoman for the organisation, they saw locals burying many of the dead.
The organisation also said that one of its volunteers had been killed along with 13 members of his family. Both the Afghan government and the American military say they are investigating the incident. According to Afghan officials, the violence broke out after more than a hundred Taleban militants attacked a police checkpoint killing three police.
The fighting then moved to a nearby village where American airstrikes were carried out against militants believed to be sheltering in houses. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is currently in Washington to hold talks with Barack Obama. But in the past, the Afghan leader has urged international forces to do more to minimise civilian casualties.
Martin Patience, 大象传媒 News, Kabul
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Vocabulary
- airstrikes
- attacks by military aircraft on a city, enemy soldiers, or their supplies, either by bombing or by firing
- dozens
- a large number (one dozen is 12)
- volunteers
- people who do something, especially helping other people, willingly and without being forced or paid to do it
- investigating the incident
- carefully examining the event to discover the truth behind it
- broke out
- began or started suddenly
- militants
- people who use force to make their views known
- police checkpoint
- a place where people are stopped and questioned and vehicles are examined
- sheltering
- hiding from danger or an attack
- hold talks
- have formal talks or discussions
- urged
- encouraged to do something
- minimise civilian casualties
- to keep injuries or death (for people who are not members of the police or armed forces) to a minimum
