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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NATO Probes 'Disastrous' Air Strike; 90 Dead

Horrific injuries reported after fireball engulfs villagers

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(Newser) – NATO will conduct a "thorough investigation" into the air strike on two Taliban-hijacked fuel tankers in Afghanistan that killed 90 people today, many of them believed to be civilians, the alliance's secretary general said. An investigation team has already been sent to the area as reports trickle in of horrific injuries from a fireball that hit villagers who came to carry siphoned fuel to the Taliban-controlled village from one of the tanker, stuck in a river.

"It is recognised in NATO that air strikes such as this are losing the war," writes the Guardian's diplomatic editor, Julian Borger. "They usually kill the very people the foreign forces claim to be fighting for, and create far more Taliban recruits than the insurgents they kill." Borger notes that the investigation will focus on why commanders thought there were no civilians in the area. Most of the NATO forces in the region, he writes, are Germans, who rely more heavily on air strikes than some other units.

A German ISAF soldier talks on a field telephone after inspecting with his unit the site of an NATO airstrike outside Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009.
A German ISAF soldier talks on a field telephone after inspecting with his unit the site of an NATO airstrike outside Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Local Afghan people bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials...
Local Afghan people bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern...   (AP Photo)
Afghani policemen look at burnt rifles as they investigate near one of two burnt fuel tanker, near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials...
Afghani policemen look at burnt rifles as they investigate near one of two burnt fuel tanker, near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban...   (AP Photo)
Local Afghani people prepare to bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept.4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people,...
Local Afghani people prepare to bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept.4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban...   (AP Photo)
Afghani policemen look at one of two burnt fuel tankers, near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said.
Afghani policemen look at one of two burnt fuel tankers, near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off...   (AP Photo)
Local Afghani people burry their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials...
Local Afghani people burry their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern...   (AP Photo)
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a press conference in Brussels. He pledged a 'thorough investigation' into the blast in Kunduz province, Afghanistan.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a press conference in Brussels. He pledged a 'thorough investigation' into the blast in Kunduz province, Afghanistan.   (AP Photo/Thierry Charlier)
Local Afghani people bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials...
Local Afghani people bury their villagers killed in a NATO air strike, in a mass grave near Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern...   (AP Photo)
Afghan people bury their dead after a NATO jet blast hit two fuel tankers, setting off a huge fireball that killed up to 90 people.
Afghan people bury their dead after a NATO jet blast hit two fuel tankers, setting off a huge fireball that killed up to 90 people.   (AP Photo)
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4 comments
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zackmasson
Sep 4, 09 9:46 AM CDT
Fuck! That's messed up. :( Reply
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jagerhans
Sep 4, 09 2:24 PM CDT
if you want to invade a country, at least put some effort into *NOT* being hated to death, and for really good reasons, by the 99.9_% of the population. what the heck. just imagine _yourselves_ in the same situation. the afghani looking for some phantom terrorist in your homeland, killing thousand of innocent civilians in the process, while your lives are in constant threat. wtf. if I were in that situation I'd join not only the talibans, but even Satan's demonic hordes if he is willing to battle those who killed my relatives and destroyed my family, home, town, country and life. Reply
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catoichi
Sep 4, 09 10:26 PM CDT
at best they were looters, at worst terrorist sympathizers, they got what they deserved. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
jagerhans
Sep 5, 09 4:29 AM CDT
well at best you're a moron.
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