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GUEST: Sam Zia-Zarifi, Research Director for the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch

The US military carried out air strikes on the Kandahar province of Afghanistan this week, claiming to “destroy a large enemy weapons cache and several Taliban compounds.” The Taliban have been gaining strength and this past week launched some of the heaviest attacks on US and NATO forces since their defeat in 2001. Between 200-300 people have been reported killed since last Wednesday – this is more than the number reported killed in Iraq during the same period. The US military is claiming that most of those killed were Taliban fighters. The Kandahar governor said that 16 civilians had been killed in the latest US strike. One young boy, Daad Mohammad, said all seven members of his family were killed. An eight month old baby was also killed. The US currently has 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, and are hoping to turn over responsibility to NATO. NATO is expanding it’s forces from 9,000 to 16,000.

For more information, visit www.hrw.org.