When a pair of rockets killed 10 or more civilians in Afghanistan on Sunday, the military initially said that the weapons had veered away from its intended target by a thousand feet or more. But a spokesman for the American-led coalition now tells Danger Room that the weapons from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) actually hit their intended target. Troops were unaware that there were civilians were inside.
Coalition troops targeted the building after taking "constant fire from five locations" in its immediate vicinity, a senior coalition military official tells CNN's Afghanistan Crossroads blog.
That would make the tragedy a failure of intelligence, instead of mechanical error or mistyped coordinates. "The big issue is going to be target verification," an Army fire support officer told Danger Room on Sunday. "That commander on the ground, he's ultimately responsible for clearing his own fires, for making sure there are no friendlies or civilians in the target area."
Three more Afghan civilians were killed in separate incidents during the assault on the town of Marjeh, NATO said in a statement. One was caught in the crossfire between militant and coalition forces. The other two allegedly ignored warning shots and continued to walk towards coalition troops; two more cases of crossed signals resulting in tragedy.
UPDATE: After the incident on Sunday, the coalition suspended use of the HIMARS system. That suspension has now been lifted. "The review into the incident is still ongoing, but it has been determined that the HIMARS system itself was not to blame. Use of the HIMARS system has been reinstated for defense purposes in accordance with the tactical directive and standard use of engagement rules," e-mails NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician.
[Photo: USAF]
