§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they respond to evidence from non-governmental organisations working in Afghanistan that air strikes targeted at the Taliban are also causing civilian casualties, hampering the relief effort and reducing the numbers of people who can be assisted. [HL936]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The coalition has ensured throughout operations in Afghanistan that the targeting of legitimate military targets is conducted with the utmost care and with the over-riding requirement that the danger of civilian casualties should be kept to a minimum. We obviously regret any such casualties that may occur. Reports and claims of civilian casualties received by the Ministry of Defence have predominately emanated from the Taliban via a variety of media groups. There have been virtually no reports received from more reliable sources such as non-governmental organisations.
§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Question for Written Answer tabled by the Earl of Sandwich on 23 October 2001 (HL936) which is still unanswered, how they respond to further evidence in the Guardian of 12 February of the large number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan during the war. [HL2854]
§ Lord BachThe Government have said before that the international coalition operating in Afghanistan makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties, but obviously regrets any that may occur We should be cautious about believing all newspaper reports, since many were derived from factual errors or Taliban propaganda. As theGuardian article itself says, regarding an academic who is researching casualties, "some of the strikes he records duplicate one another, others are fictional".