Petraeus Suspends Commander and Troops Involved in Killing of Afghan Children
Sunday, March 20, 2011

America’s top military commander in Afghanistan has taken action against those accused of killing two local youths who were tending their farms in the eastern province of Kunar.
General David Petraeus suspended a ground forces commander and the helicopter air weapons team that opened fire on two boys, age 10 and 15, who were watering their field, and not planting a roadside bomb, as initially suspected.
“We know we cannot succeed if we harm the people we are striving to protect,” Petraeus said in a prepared statement after announcing the suspensions of the military personnel involved in the attack. Disciplinary action may be taken against the soldiers once a formal investigation is completed.
Twice this month Petraeus has had to issue public apologies for U.S. attacks on children. On March 1, nine boys in Kunar were killed while gathering firewood on a mountainside, after being mistaken for insurgents.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
ISAF Suspends Ground Commander, Helicopter Crew During Investigation into Civilian Deaths in Kunar (by Bill Roggio, Long War Journal)
General Apologizes for Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan (Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs)
Killing Children in Afghanistan…As Americans Say Enough is Enough (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
- Top Stories
- Unusual News
- Where is the Money Going?
- Controversies
- U.S. and the World
- Appointments and Resignations
- Latest News
- Musk and Trump Fire Members of Congress
- Trump Calls for Violent Street Demonstrations Against Himself
- Trump Changes Name of Republican Party
- The 2024 Election By the Numbers
- Bashar al-Assad—The Fall of a Rabid AntiSemite
Comments