Communication: "What crime innocent children have committed!" - revisiting the scene of US military airstrikes on Afghan civilians Xinhua News Agency | Reporter | US military
"What crime did innocent children commit?" - revisiting the scene of US military airstrikes on Afghan civilians
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zou Xuemian and Zhao Jiasong
In the deep mountains of the southern province of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan, the ruins of collapsed houses and bullet pits of all sizes on the ruins speak silently about the history of war... As the US military is about to withdraw from Afghanistan for two years on August 30, 2021, Xinhua News Agency reporters return to Hezalak, which has been repeatedly bombed by the US military. For many local people, the atrocities committed by the US military here are still vividly remembered.
At the edge of the adobe house built by local villager Haji Sharif Khan, Khan showed reporters the bullet pits left on the walls and roofs by shattered glass and shell fragments from the explosion. "About six planes flew from three directions and the bombing lasted for more than three hours. The villagers didn't dare to leave their homes until dawn." Khan said that on March 9, 2019, at around 3am, American fighter jets attacked their village of Nasser Hil, causing dozens of deaths.
In this attack, a bomb fell into the yard of Khan's brother Nazar Gul's house, killing 13 members of the family on the spot, including 3 children who were under 3 years old.
"What crimes have those innocent children committed?" Speaking of the relatives who were brutally murdered by the US military, Khan was filled with anger. "What they have done to us is too terrible. Faced with such cruel behavior, I really don't know what to say!"
During the interview, dozens of local residents walked over and surrounded the reporter. They still have vivid memories of the tragedy at that time. Villager Milo told reporters that after learning about Gule's death, everyone was heartbroken and came to Gule's house one after another to investigate the situation. "We saw that the house had been destroyed and there was nothing left inside. Although everyone was extremely angry, the American artillery fire made us dare not speak up and powerless."
The Brown University War Cost Project report states that the US military relaxed its rules of engagement for air strikes in Afghanistan in 2017, leading to a sharp increase in civilian casualties. According to statistics, during the 20 year invasion of Afghanistan by the US military, 174000 Afghan people, including over 30000 civilians, were killed, and nearly one-third of the Afghan people became refugees.
Currently, Afghanistan is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, with ordinary people struggling to fill their stomachs, and sweat and family members unable to repair homes that have been heavily damaged by US artillery fire. "Unfortunately, so far, no one has even inquired about our situation, and no humanitarian organization has helped us," said Khan.
On February 11, 2022, US President Biden signed an executive order demanding that the Afghan Central Bank's approximately $7 billion in US assets be evenly distributed, with half being used as a source of funding for compensating victims of the 9/11 attacks. However, to this day, many Afghan people who have suffered from the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians by the US military have never received the apology and compensation they deserve.
The US invasion of Afghanistan for 20 years has destroyed the future of countless people. "I often see an orphan who survived the air raid in the village. Although he has grown up, he is afraid when he sees a plane," tears of sweat couldn't stop flowing. "I still remember the loneliness and despair in his eyes when we told him the truth that his parents had died."