2,000 homeless in western Afghanistan from U.S. raids, Red Cross says

AFP reported Sunday on a Red Cross statement that cited U.S. bombings in western Afghanistan that destroyed 173 homes as the cause of homelessness for 2,000 Afghans. Although final reports are due this week, the preliminary investigation found that around 50 civilians were killed in the April 27 and 29 operations.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) scolded foreign forces over the civilian casualties during operations aimed at putting down the Taliban insurgency. The ICRC noted that the assault “left 230 families, almost 2,000 people, in four villages homeless.”

Last month’s raids left one of the highest civilian death tolls since the start of the campaign against the Taliban six years ago. Reto Stocker, head of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, remarked that all parties involved in the conflict are “legally obliged to distinguish at all times between legitimate military objectives and the civilian population and civilian objects.”

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