“US general: Afghan civilians wounded at bomb site - Yahoo News” plus 4 more |
- US general: Afghan civilians wounded at bomb site - Yahoo News
- Text size - Hampton Roads Daily Press
- Sightseeing boat sinks in Macedonian lake, 15 dead - Boston Globe
- Boat sinks in Macedonian lake, at least 15 drown - Las Vegas Sun
- Blue Plate Special: Tuberville on Auburn's opener - Everything Alabama Blog
| US general: Afghan civilians wounded at bomb site - Yahoo News Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:53 AM PDT KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – The top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Saturday that local villagers were among those wounded at the site of an airstrike on hijacked fuel tankers, declaring his resolve to limit civilian casualties that threaten to undermine the war against the Taliban. U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal inspected the spot where a U.S. fighter jet blasted the hijacked tankers early Friday, killing as many as 70 people. McChrystal also visited a hospital Saturday where the wounded were taken, stooping low to talk with a 10-year-old boy with severe burns, his arms and legs swathed in gauze. Local officials have said scores of people died in the fiery blast, but it was unclear how many were militants and how many were villagers who rushed to the scene to siphon fuel from the stolen trucks. A NATO team began an official investigation Saturday amid a clamor from European leaders for answers, with some calling the airstrike a "tragedy" and "a big mistake" that must be investigated. "From what I have seen today and going to the hospital, it's clear to me that there were some civilians that were harmed at the site," McChrystal told reporters in Kunduz. He did not say if any civilians were killed. McChrystal waded through knee-high water to view the blackened NATO tankers, which exploded when a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle jet dropped two 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs on them a few miles (kilometers) outside the main town in northern Kunduz province. Reporters traveling with him saw about a dozen small yellow fuel cans had survived the blasts. Several were still full of fuel. Friday's pre-dawn strike occurred despite McChrystal's new orders restricting the use of airpower if civilian lives are at risk. Before traveling to the site of the bombing, McChrystal met local Afghan leaders in the provincial capital. He expressed sympathy for any civilian losses and said the fight against the Taliban should not come at the expense of civilian lives. "I am here today to ensure that we are operating in a way that is truly protecting the Afghan people from all threats," McChrystal said. At least one local official supported the allied bombing, saying it would help drive the insurgents from the area. "If we did three more operations like we did yesterday morning, the Kunduz situation would be peaceful and stable," said Ahmadullah Wardak, a provincial council chief. McChrystal discussed the incident with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and later told senior commanders that "we need to know what we are hitting," an aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity under command policy. The NATO investigative team flew over the site on the Kunduz River where the U.S. jet, called in by the German military, bombed the tankers, which reportedly became stuck trying to cross a river. German officials have said the Taliban may have been planning a suicide attack on the military's nearby Kunduz base using the tankers, which were hijacked carrying NATO fuel supplies from neighboring Tajikistan. The team led by U.S. Rear Admiral Gregory J. Smith, NATO's director of communications in Kabul, also spoke to two wounded villagers in the Kunduz hospital, including a boy and a farmer with shrapnel wounds. Mohammad Shafi, 10, who was injured in the blast, told Smith from his hospital bed in Kunduz town his father told him not to go near the stolen tankers, but he went anyway. "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," he said with bandages on his arm and leg. Local government spokesman Mohammad Yawar estimated more than 70 people were killed, at least 45 of them militants. Investigators were trying to account for the others, he said. Germany said 57 fighters were killed in Friday's airstrike and no civilians were believed in the area at the time, based on surveillance of the tankers by a drone aircraft. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, however, acknowledged some civilians may have died, and the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan government announced a joint investigation. European leaders called Saturday for a speedy investigation. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the airstrike "a big mistake," though he said he was not blaming anyone until the probe is complete. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called the incident "a great, great tragedy." German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung insisted in comments to the Bild am Sonntag weekly that officials had no information indicating any civilians were killed in the airstrike. "Based on the information I have at this time, only Taliban terrorists were killed in the strikes carried out by U.S. aircraft," Jung was quoted as saying. The deputy U.N. representative to Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith, said Saturday he was "very concerned" about the reports of civilian deaths. "Steps must also be taken to examine what happened and why an airstrike was employed in circumstances where it was hard to determine with certainty that civilians were not present," Galbraith said. NATO said two U.S. service members died in Afghanistan on Saturday. One died of wounds after coming under fire in eastern Afghanistan, while the other was killed by hostile small-arms fire in the west, statements said. A bomb blast hit a German military convoy Saturday in Kunduz, damaging at least one vehicle and wounding four troops, none seriously. The thousands of German troops in Kunduz have come under increasing militant attack in a region that had largely escaped the scale of violence seen in the east and south of Afghanistan.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Text size - Hampton Roads Daily Press Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:46 AM PDT  FILE - In this Thursday, June 21, 2009 file photo, former Attorney General John Ashcroft talks to reporters after meeting with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about the controversy regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA, , at the Capitol in Washington. A federal appeals court delivered a stinging rebuke Friday, Sept. 4, 2009, to the Bush administration's detention policies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, ruling that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be held liable for people who were wrongfully detained as material witnesses. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, file) (LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE, AP / June 21, 2007)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sightseeing boat sinks in Macedonian lake, 15 dead - Boston Globe Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:46 AM PDT OHRID, Macedonia—An overloaded sightseeing boat carrying dozens of Bulgarian tourists sank Saturday in a lake on Macedonia's western border, and at least 15 people drowned, officials said.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Boat sinks in Macedonian lake, at least 15 drown - Las Vegas Sun Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:31 AM PDT [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] An overloaded sightseeing boat carrying dozens of Bulgarian tourists sank Saturday in a lake on Macedonia's western border, and at least 15 people drowned and four others were in serious condition, officials said. The vessel, called the Ilinden, sank ... This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Blue Plate Special: Tuberville on Auburn's opener - Everything Alabama Blog Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:24 AM PDT The Blue Plate Special is on the air! Well, it's on the Internet, and it's in written form, but, by golly, we're back for our third year of seeing how folks around the country are picking Auburn football games. We're having a little trouble finding picks on the Internet this early season, so we'll ask an ESPN analyst what he thinks will happen in Auburn's season-opener against Louisiana Tech tonight.The ESPN analyst? A fellow by the name of Tommy Tuberville. Mr. Tuberville, once the head coach of Auburn, predicts the Tigers will win by 10-14 points. He says it should be a strength-vs.-strength battle: Auburn's run game against Tech's run defense. Hey, what's a retired coach do on a football Saturday? Tuberville will watch some early games on TV, and then drive up to Atlanta to watch Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in person. He says he'll be traveling to some Top 25 games this season in his role as an ESPN analyst. He also says he'll be stealing some looks at Auburn on TV tonight. He'll be on the ESPN family of networks on Monday nights this fall discussing the SEC and the Top 25. He'll be in Charlotte for the first show. Tuberville also moonlights at BusterSports.com. Our tour continues, and we'll start with Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CBS and who knows what else. He says Auburn will win 28-10. NBC Sports, on-line division, says Auburn will win 27-20. Something called WahtlfSports.com, found at Fox Sports, says it runs 10,000 computer simulations of every game to predict the outcome. The computer's average score? Louisiana Tech wins 23-15. The Birmingham News' Charles Hollis said Louisiana Tech will win 23-21 in his weekly pick 'um column. Fellow Birmingham News blogger Doug Segrest, of Segrest on the SEC fame, says Auburn will win 17-10. He'll be in Auburn tonight to see if he's right. We, meaning me, guessed an Auburn victory, 30-16, over at
I had the second overall pick, which meant I didn't get Tim Tebow. I picked Jevan Snead of Ole Miss instead because there are few established quarterbacks in the league. I'm a little worried about my running backs, and I put Darvin Adams on reserve after the draft because I'm not sure of his health. It's a head-to-head competition, and I'll reluctantly report the outcome. Here's my team, at least for this week: Here's my lineup •We'll be bothering you with blogs throughout the day, especially after arriving at Jordan-Hare (and we like to arrive early). • Follow the Gold Mine on Twitter. You can sign up by pushing AUGoldMine and hitting the "Follow" button when you get there.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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