American Mistake Costs Innocent Afghan Lives

Press Release, July 2, 2002
American Mistake Costs Innocent Afghan Lives

Women for Afghan Women expresses its deep sympathy for the families that suffered from the latest round of American attacks in Afghanistan.

We are outraged by the killings yesterday by US warplanes of Afghan civilians - women, men and children at a wedding party in Uruzgan. Casualty estimates range from 40 people killed and 70 wounded to more than 120 people dead. The United States has directly killed more innocent people in Afghanistan--all in the name of a war on terrorism!

Women for Afghan Women knows first-hand that this is not an isolated incident. Our Program Coordinator Masuda Sultan was filming a documentary in Kandahar in December 2001 when she learned that 19 members of her family, in a village named Chowkar-Karez, had been massacred by US bombs and AC-130 gunships, the very weapons that were reportedly used in the current attack. Pentagon has refused to investigate the attack and stands by its claim that the village was a legitimate target.

In partnership with Peaceful Tomorrows (an organization of families of victims of September 11) and Global Exchange, Sultan has been advocating for an “Afghan Victims Fund.” An estimated 4,000 Afghan civilians were mistakenly bombed or injured in similar US attacks in Afghanistan. The tragic attack in Uruzgan is a chilling reminder of the importance of such a fund.

Women for Afghan Women demands that the United States and the international community:
- Support the people of Afghanistan with aid, not bombs
- Ensure the presence of international peacekeepers throughout Afghanistan
- Maintain a long-term commitment to Afghanistan

Women for Afghan Women pledges to stand by the women, men and children of Afghanistan until the day Afghanistan is at peace and its people are guaranteed their human rights. Women for Afghan Women is an Afghan-led grassroots women’s organization based in New York City. We are committed to ensuring the rights of Afghan women and their full participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Masuda Sultan
Women for Afghan Women
PO Box 152 Midtown Station
New York, NY 10018
(212) 868-9360
(917) 554-1130
miakamran@aol.com
www.womenforafghanwomen.org

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