Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: civilian casualties

50 Die in Shelling of Sri Lanka Hospital

Doctor says aid workers flee as artillery hits makeshift wards

(Newser) - The hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone was shelled again today, killing more than 50 people and making it harder than ever for the remaining doctors to treat the wounded, the AP reports. The government has pledged not to fire on the land occupied by thousands of refugees, but this... More »

378 Civilians Reported Dead in Sri Lanka Artillery Barrage

1,100 injured; rebels, army blame each other

(AP) - An all-night artillery barrage in Sri Lanka's war zone killed at least 378 civilians and forced thousands to flee to makeshift shelters, a government doctor said today. The army and Tamil Tiger rebels each blamed the other for the barrage, which the doctor said left at least 1,100 people... More »

US Admits Afghan Raids Killed Civilians

Pentagon reverses earlier claims that Taliban was to blame

(Newser) - American officials acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the US military was responsible for at least some of the 100 recent civilian deaths in western Afghanistan. The air strikes have led to angry protests in Afghanistan and calls for the US to withdraw from the country. While initial military... More »

US-Led Airstrike Kills 30 Afghan Civilians

Villagers deliver bodies to provincial capital as proof

(Newser) - Afghan villagers bore the bodies of 30 civilian victims of a US-led airstrike to a provincial council as proof of the coalition operation’s deadly price, provincial officials reported to the AP today. When fighting broke out yesterday between militants and coalition forces in Farah province, villagers herded their women,... More »

Doctor: 64 Dead in Shelling of Sri Lankan Hospital

(AP) - Artillery shells hit a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's northern war zone today, killing at least 64 civilians, a government doctor reports, amid growing international pressure to safeguard thousands of civilians trapped in the area. A rebel-linked website accused government forces of shelling the hospital, while the military said soldiers... More »

Watchdog: Mexican Army's Abuse of Civilians Unchecked

Desperate to fight the cartels, government turns a blind eye to military crimes

(Newser) - The Mexican army, enlisted by President Felipe Calderón in the battle against drug cartels, is abusing civilians with de facto immunity from the government, a watchdog group says. The army was supposed to be a temporary replacement for corrupt or incompetent police forces. But some soldiers, unaccustomed to the... More »

Sri Lanka Restarts Airstrikes, Bars Diplomat

Swedish foreign minister refused entry days before trip

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan army bombarded the tiny coastal strip where ethnic Tamil rebels are mounting their last stand, the Guardian reports—a day after the government said it would end airstrikes. Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in the region. The eruption comes as Sweden’s foreign minister, scheduled... More »

Sri Lanka Army Ends Combat, Begins Rescue

Civilian deaths keep mounting in civil war's endgame

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan army has announced an end to shelling in the tiny coastal strip where the Tamil Tigers mounted their last stand in the 26-year civil war, CNN reports. The army is set to move in and rescue trapped civilians whose situation the UN has called catastrophic; many were... More »

Sri Lanka Rejects Rebels' Ceasefire Call

Gov't calls Tigers' move 'a joke,' demands a full surrender

(Newser) - Surrounded by government forces and citing an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers declared a unilateral ceasefire today that was immediately rejected, the Guardian reports. Sri Lanka’s defense chief called the ceasefire “a joke. They were not fighting with us, they were running from... More »

6,500 Civilians Dead as Sri Lanka War Nears End

Army, rebels both accused of exacerbating death toll

(AP) - Nearly 6,500 ethnic Tamil civilians have been killed in the last 3 months of fighting in Sri Lanka, the UN estimates. The level of civilian deaths has increased dramatically as the bloody 26-year civil war draws to a close, with the army pressing Tamil separatists into a tiny coastal... More »

87,000 Iraqis Killed Since 2005

(Newser) - Iraq's government has a put a number on the toll of violence in the country: 87,215 deaths since 2005. The number—provided to AP by a Health Ministry official—counts people killed in violent attacks such as bombings through February. It doesn't count deaths attributed to factors such as... More »

Israel Finds No War Crimes in Gaza Attacks

Officials say civilian deaths isolated, unintentional

(Newser) - An Israel Defense Forces probe has found that no Gaza civilians were intentionally harmed in Israel’s recent incursion into the region, Haaretz reports. IDF colonels who weren’t involved in the fighting found that the IDF “adhered to international law and maintained a high level of professionalism and... More »

2nd Marine Acquitted in Fallujah Killings

(Newser) - A Marine was acquitted today in a court-martial for civilian deaths during the battle for Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Sgt. Ryan Weemer acted in self defense and had orders to fire, there was no forensic evidence, and he was manipulated by investigators, his lawyers argued.... More »

Israel Opens Inquiry Into Soldiers' Gaza Killings

(AP) - Israel's military today ordered a criminal inquiry into its own soldiers' reports that some troops killed Palestinian civilians during its recent Gaza assault by hastily opening fire, confident that relaxed rules of engagement would protect them. Their accounts, published in a military institute's newsletter, echo Palestinian allegations that Israel violated... More »

Iraqi Deaths Continue, But Get Less Notice

'No one values the victims' as war winds down, mourners say

(Newser) - Abu Ghraib, once a symbol of Saddam Hussein’s tyranny and later of the darkest hour of the US occupation of Iraq, is the latest symbol of how the nation and media now treat death there, Anthony Shadid writes in the Washington Post. 33 people died there Tuesday in a... More »

Israel to Back Soldiers Accused of War Crimes

Government fears tribunals following civilian deaths in Gaza war

(AP) - Special legal teams will defend Israeli soldiers against potential war crimes charges stemming from civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today, promising the country would "fully back" those who fought in the three-week offensive. "The soldiers and commanders who were sent on missions... More »

Karzai Blames US in 16 Civilian Deaths

(AP) - President Hamid Karzai condemned a US operation he said killed 16 Afghan civilians today, even as his Ministry of Defense sent Washington a draft agreement that seeks to give Afghanistan more oversight over US military operations. The increased rhetoric comes as hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an... More »

Israel Probes Phosphorus Use in Gaza

Admits deadly shells may have hit civilian areas, violating law

(Newser) - Under pressure from the international community, Israel has admitted its troops might have inappropriately used white phosphorus in attacks on Gaza, and has launched an investigation. International law only permits the caustic chemical for creating smokescreens in troop areas, which wouldn’t explain hits on United Nations facilities in Gaza,... More »

Every Civilian Death a Hamas War Crime

Group delights in the deaths of its human shields

(Newser) - When Israelis kill civilians in Gaza, it’s Hamas that’s committing the war crime, says Alan M. Dershowitz of the LA Times. Hamas delights in using human shields, or duping Israel into returning fire at civilian targets, earning itself international sympathy with each casualty. Hamas has taken to heart... More »

Israeli Forces Attack Gaza's 2nd Biggest City

4 Israeli soldiers die in friendly fire; Khan Younis raided

(Newser) - Israeli tanks and troops moved today into Gaza's second-largest city, Khan Younis, covered by intensive airstrikes. Fighting has been heaviest in the north of the Strip, where witnesses have reported waves of bombings, and naval attacks from the Mediterranean killed 10 Palestinians. The Guardian also reports that 4 Israeli soldiers... More »

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne