Loved ones buried after U.S. drone strike kills 30 pine nut pickers in Afghanistan
Record ID:
1433088
Loved ones buried after U.S. drone strike kills 30 pine nut pickers in Afghanistan
- Title: Loved ones buried after U.S. drone strike kills 30 pine nut pickers in Afghanistan
- Date: 19th September 2019
- Summary: NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN (SEPTEMBER 19, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VICTIMS' RELATIVES GATHERING AT VILLAGE / SITTING AROUND COFFINS ON THE GROUND VICTIMS' RELATIVES PUTTING A COFFIN ON THE GROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING NEAR TO VICTIMS' COFFINS AND WAITING FOR FUNERAL PRAYERS A VICTIM'S RELATIVE CRYING (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) RESIDENT OF THE AREA, EZATULLAH, SAYING: "These people had gone to the fields to work and their wages were very low. Don't they (the Americans) see that these people are working and gathering pine nuts? Why do they attack workers?" RELATIVES AND VILLAGE RESIDENTS PERFORMING FUNERAL PRAYERS VARIOUS OF RELATIVES CARRYING THE COFFINS FOR BURIAL (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) EYEWITNESS OF THE ATTACK, JUMA GUL, SAYING: "We were about 250 people and we had gone to work in the fields. Only 50 people survived, 21 people were martyred, and 15 others wounded, and there is no news from the rest." VARIOUS OF FIELDS IN KHOGYANI DISTRICT OF NANGARHAR PROVINCE
- Embargoed: 3rd October 2019 16:42
- Keywords: Drone strike U.S. drone strike pine nut farm workers funeral burials drone attack
- Location: NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN
- City: NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001AXBN6MF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labour in the fields, officials said on Thursday (September 19).
The attack on Wednesday (September 18) night also injured 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and labourers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at mountainous Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters.
Relatives of the victims gathered at a village in Nangarhar on Thursday for funeral prayers before carrying the coffins for burial.
Afghanistan's Defence Ministry and a senior U.S. official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike but did not share details of civilian casualties.
"U.S. forces conducted a drone strike against Da'esh (IS) terrorists in Nangarhar," said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts."
About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan security forces and conducting counter-insurgency operations against IS and the Taliban movement.
(Production: Mohammad Rafiq, Hameed Farzad) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None