One shouldn’t expect decrease in Afghan civilian casualties – activist

Five children injured in an attack by a UK Apache military helicopter will not be the last in the list of civilian casualties of the Afghan war, says Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition.

The kids were working on Saturday in a field in Helmand Province where UK forces were targeting an insurgent on a nearby motorcycle.Britain's Ministry of Defense has expressed “deep regret'” over the civilian casualties, adding that an investigation is underway and that the provincial government is being kept informed of all the developments.Almost 1,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan this year, already making 2011 the deadliest year since the war started in 2001.According to German, the US and NATO promises to lower the number of civilian casualties go against their actual policy over the last year, which has only seen “an increase in airstrikes.”  German also stated that incidents like the one on Saturday ought to get more media attention in the West.  “It’ll just convince more people in Afghanistan that the war isn’t helping them, but it’s actually killing and injuring more and more people,” she said. “The latest UN report shows the last six months have been the most deadly for civilians since the war in Afghanistan started. The real problem, I think, is that we have to make this an issue not just in Afghanistan, where people are very aware of what is happening, but also here in Britain, where much of this news isn’t very much reported.”