The Afghan president's spokesman on Saturday supported claims from a United Nations' committee that negligence in US military tactics had resulted in the deaths of "hundreds" of Afghan children over a four year period.
The Geneva-based UN Committee for the Rights of the Child Geneva -- which operates independently of the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (Unama) -- stated its concern last week over insufficient measures taken by US military to protect children in Afghanistan's conflict and that "members of the armed forces responsible for the killings of children have not always been held accountable".
The Committee said it was alarmed by reports that hundreds of children had died in US attacks and airstrikes due to a "reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force."
A day after the US military rejected the claims, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi supported the UN statement in a press release on the president's website.
"One of the controversial issues, which has always stoked tension in relations between Kabul and Washington is the issue of civilian casualties arising from Isaf military ops in the country," Faizi was quoted saying in the release.
Statistics from Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission show that in the first six months of this Persian year (March to August 2012) around 136 children were killed in war-induce violence while another 685 were injured.
This is a 14.5 percent increase compared to the same period last Persian year (Mar to Aug 2011). However, it is important to note that the statistics only reflect the total number of children killed regardless of whether the deaths are perpetrated by insurgent violence or by security forces.
Host Yama Siavash looks at different aspects of the topic with this episode's guests:
Aminullah Habibi, advisor to Isaf, and Shamsullah Ahmadzai, head of Kabul's regional office of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission.
To watch the programme, click here:
