New U.S. orders in Afghanistan aim to reduce deaths

By Peter Graff
KABUL (Reuters) - The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan will issue orders within days requiring troops to disengage from combat in populated areas when it is safe to do so, in an effort to reduce civilian casualties, a spokesman said.
General Stanley McChrystal, who took the reins of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan a week ago, has repeatedly pledged to take steps to limit civilian deaths, especially from air strikes, which have provoked hostility to the U.S. mission among Afghans.
A U.S. military report issued last week found that strikes by U.S. B1 bombers, which killed dozens of civilians last month, had violated orders already in place at the time.
That report recommended drawing up new guidelines and ordering all U.S. forces operating in Afghanistan to undergo new training.
Since his arrival a week ago, McChrystal has been visiting his commanders in the field on what the military calls a "listening tour".
A spokesman, Lieutenant Commander Joe Matison, said one of the issues McChrystal was discussing was details of the new orders, known as a "tactical directive", which the general hopes to publish "in the next week or so".
The new orders will allow U.S. forces to use air strikes and other weapons when they or their allies are under imminent threat, but will require them to disengage from combat if they can do so safely when civilians might be harmed, Matison said.
"The intent is that if the insurgents fall back into the village then (troops) would try to disengage," he said. "We're really just trying to reduce civilian casualties at that point."
However, the emphasis on disengaging to protect civilians is hardly new. McChrystal's predecessor, General David McKiernan, issued a similar tactical directive last year after an incident involving a large number of civilian deaths.
The military has not explained precisely how McChrystal's directive would differ from McKiernan's, which it says was violated in last month's bombing in western Farah province.
The B1 bombers dropped three 2000 lb (900 kg) bombs and five 500 lb bombs, destroying two housing compounds and a mosque some distance from where a daylong battle had taken place, because pilots saw people gather in them and believed they were fighters.
The report found that no one in the buildings was shooting when they were destroyed and steps had not been taken to ensure there were no civilians present. It concluded that the strikes "did not adhere to all of the specific guidance and commander's intent contained in the controlling directive".
U.S. investigators initially estimated about 26 civilians had died along with about 76 fighters, but the military's report noted that an Afghan human rights agency had tallied 86 dead civilians and called its conclusions "balanced" and "thorough".
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: Reuters