In memory of and sympathy for

 

 

Seven civilians killed

Nevidullah, boy of 5, injured

 

 

 

killed on October 13 and 14, 2001

 

 

 

in Mazar-i-Sharif. U.S. air strikes on Mazar targeted the airport, the Taliban's 5th and 18th divisions, and a training camp allegedly used by bin Laden associates near Mazar to train Uzbek Islamist guerrillas. For a week, U.S. planes hit Mazar relentlessly with the aim of weakening Taliban ground defenses so that Northern Alliance forces could capture the strategic town.[1] A teacher, Nimatullah, 40, left Mazar on the 14th, after a terrible day. His house was destroyed on the evening of the 13th between 20:30 - 21:00. His son, Nevidullah, 5, had wounds all over his body.[2] That day, U.S planes hit the airport - about 5 kms east of Mazar's center - and the Taliban's 18th Army division garrison.[3]  A row of houses was struck by falling U.S. bombs. The United Nations’ Stephanie Bunker reported that a U.S bomb landed in the city center near the market and government offices on October 13th, killing five civilians instantly [1 woman and 4 men] possibly engaged in a marriage.[4]  The following day, bombs fell upon houses near Qala-e-Qul Mohammad where Taliban military installations are located on the city's outskirts killing another two civilians.[5] As the German magazine Der Spiegel noted, “They trembled during the day time, thinking of the night.”

 

 

U.S bombing attacks in and around the city of Mazar-i-Sharif

[1] "US Broadens Attack Eyeing Fall of Mazar. More Civilians Killed in Fresh Attacks," The News. Jang [October 18, 2001].

[2] from an article titled "they tremble during daytime thinking of night," the major German weekly, Der Spiegel [November 12, 2001],  reported on some first-hand accounts of what it meant to be under the falling U.S bombs in Afghanistan.

[3] "Mazar-i-Sharif, Army Division Bombed," The Tribune [October 13, 2001].

[4] Stephanie Bunker, "Press Briefing by the U.N. Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan" [October 15, 2001] and Greg Torode and Angus Donald, "Powell Push to Boost Support," South China Morning Post [October 16, 2001]. Also "Five Killed in Mazar-i-Sharif," Dawn [October 16, 2001] at  http://www.dawn.com/2001/10/16/top18.htm

[5] "City of Kandahar in Panic, as Five More Civilians are Killed by Airstrikes," Out There News [October 16, 2001]