US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan have rejected a United Nations report that accuses American troops of killing hundreds of Afghan children over the last four years.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) issued the statement in Kabul on Friday, after the Geneva-based UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said this week the civilian casualties were “due notably to reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force.”
The UN body said in the report on Tuesday that it is “alarmed at reports of the death of hundreds of children as a result of attacks and air strikes by the US military forces in Afghanistan.”
The report also said “those responsible for the killings” have not been held accountable “even as the number of children killed doubled from 2010 to 2011.”
The UN has reviewed a range of US policies affecting Afghan children since 2008.
In the statement, the ISAF described the UN report as “categorically unfounded”.
The ISAF claimed that US-led foreign troops take special care to avoid civilian casualties.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the US to quickly implement the UN recommendations to improve the security of Afghan children.
“The US can and should do more to protect children affected by armed conflict,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at HRW. “The US should take decisive action on the child rights committee’s common-sense recommendations.”
The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led soldiers.
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