NP? Afghans are still dying as air strikes go on. But no one is counting

[Doug Millison]

Afghans are still dying as air strikes go on. But no one is counting

Bombing blunders and misleading information on the ground keep the civilian
toll rising in Afghanistan. In the first of a three-part investigation
Guardian writers ask: How many innocent people are dying?  [...]  Somehow
in the middle of America's hi-tech, $1bn a month bombing blizzard, the
simple matter of keeping a tally of civilian casualties has been
overlooked. [...] The charity Médecins Sans Frontières says: "MSF
increasingly sees evidence of an unacceptably high number of Afghan
civilian casualties from the military operations."

A senior MSF worker, who has been in Afghanistan for five years, estimates
the number of civilian dead at between 2,000 and 3,000, based on reports
from hospitals and field workers around the country.

Some analysts say more than 60 Afghan civilians are being killed daily on
average since the bombing began on October 7. A European demining expert in
Kabul who works closely with the Pentagon reckons that up to 8,000
civilians have been killed.

...continues at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,648759,00.html