KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The top NATO commander confirmed Saturday that civilians were wounded by a devastating airstrike targeting insurgents in northern Afghanistan, a major test of his policy to curb airpower to reduce civilian casualties and win over Afghans to the war against the Taliban.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal waded through a knee-deep river to inspect the charred remains of two fuel tankers destroyed in the Friday attack, which Afghan officials say killed about 70 people.
It was unclear how many were Taliban and how many were villagers who rushed to the scene to siphon fuel from the stolen trucks.
McChrystal visited the site about 100 miles north of Kabul as European leaders already nervous about the escalating war demanded answers. Some called the airstrike — requested by the Germans and carried out by U.S. jets — “a tragedy” and “a big mistake” that must be investigated. A personal visit by such a senior Western official is a rarity.
The bombing also sent shock waves through Germany ahead of national elections Sept. 27. Opposition politicians called for a thorough investigation, even as the defense minister insisted all the dead were militants.
After touring the bomb site — where villagers’ yellow fuel cans still littered the river bank — McChrystal paid a somber visit to the Kunduz hospital, where he stooped low to talk with a 10-year-old boy whose arms and legs were swathed in gauze. “While I was going to get the fuel, on the way I heard a big bang, and after that I don’t know what happened,” said the boy, Mohammad Shafi.
McChrystal whispered “tashakor,” — thank you in the Afghan language of Dari — to the boy and left the room.
“Anytime anybody is hurt it is something that gives pause to everybody, particularly when they’re young people, still children. And so you take it very seriously,” McChrystal said. “So I take this entire effort as something that is a responsibility of our command, and a responsibility of mine, to try to protect Afghans.”
Civilian casualties have dogged the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.
