Afghans outraged after US Marines cleared

Afghans reacted with outrage after the US military found Marines had acted appropriately when they opened fire after an attack last year, killing as many as 19 civilians. The country's top rights body meanwhile reiterated its finding that the troops had used excessive force in the Mar. 4, 2007, incident in Nangarhar and the United Nations said it was disappointed no one was held accountable. "I'm deeply outraged over this," Abdul Aziz Khairkhawa, deputy head of the Nangarhar provincial council, said after the US Marines' announcement the day before. "People sleeping in their home or walking on the road are being killed and they say they are innocent. This is not acceptable," he said. Khairkhawa said the soldiers should have been "strongly punished" and made to apologize. The US military said on May 23 that two Marine officers in the unit accused of the killings will not face criminal charges, but will be subjected to administrative actions. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the commander of US Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, decided not to bring charges after reviewing the findings of a special tribunal that heard more than three weeks of testimony in January at Camp Lejeune. The tribunal examined allegations that as many as 19 Afghan civilians died when the unit of Marines Special Operations troops opened fire, after a car bomb targeted their convoy in March 2007 in Nangahar province. Helland determined the Marines in the convoy "acted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack." The Corps said Maj. Fred C. Galvin, 38, the company's commander; Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, a platoon leader; and a third officer, Capt. Robert Olsen, will face administrative actions. It was not immediately clear what those actions might be. It was the first Marine Corps Court of Inquiry in more than 50 years. The panel, composed of two colonels and a lieutenant colonel, considered only the actions of Galvin and Noble. Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded that the Marines fired indiscriminately at vehicles and pedestrians in six locations on a 10-mile stretch of road. Nearly a dozen Marines told the court that they heard gunfire after the bombing and called the unit's fire a disciplined response to a well-planned ambush. An Army investigation later concluded that 50 people were injured and 19 were killed. The Afghan interior ministry said the troops killed at least 10 civilians, including children. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission then said they had killed around a dozen civilians and wounded 35. The commission's deputy head Ahmad Fahim Hakim said "six of those killed were hit about six kilometers away from the site of the incident which shows the excessive use of force by the troops." A member of the influential religious council in Nangarhar, Qari Nazifullah, said there was "hard evidence" against the soldiers. "It's a one-way conclusion," he said, expressing sadness at the finding. In its reaction, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said "it is disappointing that no one has been held accountable for these deaths." "The United Nations has always made clear that there must be increased transparency and accountability of all parties to this conflict if we are to retain the trust and confidence of the Afghan people," spokesman Aleem Siddique said.