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Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan

Thursday, 13 December 2001

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Bombing

During the past three months of the so-called War on Terror, the mainstream media has avoided reporting on civilian casualties, and some prominent journalists have gone as far as to say that deaths of non-combatants are "not news". When reporting on civilian casualties has been done, vague wording like "at least dozens" is used, reports are framed as Taliban propaganda, or dismissed as "not independently verified".

According to rather conservative estimates based on available evidence, however, the real civilian death toll is in the thousands. A meticulously documented accounting of news reports and eyewitness accounts places the number of civilian casualties at 3,767 -- over 60 per day since US attacks commenced eight and a half weeks ago. Marc Herold, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, arrived at the estimate by tabulating numbers from news reports and corroborated eyewitness accounts. The estimate, Herold writes, is almost definitely conservative: "data is simply unavailable in many cases, e.g., no data available for November 3, 4, 11 and 13, and for the effects of massive carpet-bombing by B-52s after October 30th." Additionally, the Muslim practice of immediate burial before nightfall means that if, say, the bombing of a village is not reported immediately, accurate estimates of casualties are difficult at best.

Deaths constitute only a part of the destruction dealt by bombs. A UN official in Afghanistan recently estimated that 60 to 100 Afghans are maimed by bombs weekly. The use of cluster bombs has been condemned by the UN and many human rights groups because the small "bomblets" are painted bright yellow, easily mistaken for toys or food packages by children. And bomblets often do not explode on impact, which effectively turns large areas into minefields.

Most recently, American bombing in Tora Bora has resulted in heavy civilian casualties, according to claims by the pro-American, anti-Taliban forces currently in control of the region, where Osama Bin Laden is said to be hiding. As before, such reports are largely dismissed as "not independently verified", or are simply ignored because they contradict the Pentagon's oft-cited efforts to "minimize" civilian casualties.

Starvation

Even before US attacks began, Afghanistan was suffering the worst drought in decades, and hundreds of aid workers were distributing food and medical supplies in preparation for the winter. When attacks started, aid workers fled the country, effectively shutting down distribution efforts. While the current condition of the population is unclear, September, October, and November saw a number of warnings from humanitarian groups that an estimated 1 million Afghanis would starve if aid was not delivered before later November. Other reports from humanitarian agencies have stated that as many as 300,000 civilians and refugees are currently not getting adequate nourishment. Yet others note that refugees who fled from the attacks have little in the way of shelter and are currently extremely succeptible to illness in the harsh Afghan winter.

Reports on the successes of humanitarian aid efforts are vague, or pessimistic when discussing consequences; it's not clear how successful aid organizations will be in avoiding the frequently mentioned imminent million of deaths from starvation. Not unsuprisingly, the poor of Afghanistan will be the hardest hit, thanks to rising food prices. Reports citing specific successes abound, and most reports keep an optimistic tone, without discussing the overall implications of aid agencies' lack of access, past and present. Rarely, if ever, do reports mention the possibility of US responsibility for the newly aggravated crisis. More often coverage emphasizes the "psychologically shattering" nature of bombings in a military context, without discussing the implications of "shattering" (physically and psychologically) civilians.

Even if agencies are successful in delivering aid quickly enough to stave off widespread starvation, it is essential that both the successes and failures of these efforts, and the role of the attacks in escalating the crisis, are examined more closely. As for civilian casualties from bombings, any increase in discussion or analysis of these in the press, mainstream or otherwise, would surely be welcomed by those currently "shattered", military and civilian alike.

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