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(回答先: 民間人犠牲増大／対アフガン戦術転換を／国連特別報告官 ＮＡＴＯ軍に要求（しんぶん赤旗） 投稿者 gataro 日時 2008 年 9 月 02 日 16:35:25)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/31/afghanistan.defence
Army told to switch its Afghan tactics
UN's warning after rise in civilian casualties
Mark Townsend The Observer, Sunday August 31 2008
Article history
Senior British military commanders in Afghanistan have been told to change their military tactics in the face of mounting civilian casualties.
Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, warned Nato-led coalition forces, including Britain, that rules of engagement need to be revised or the coalition risks losing the war.
There was a worrying but growing perception among Afghans that the foreign forces were responsible for 'indiscriminate killings' and 'mass rape'.
'The struggle in Afghanistan is quintessentially at a point where popular support is crucial,' Alston said. 'My view is that it is being significantly undermined by the strong perception among the Afghan public that the allied forces are killing significant numbers of civilians with no accountability at all, even if that perception is exaggerated.'
Nato's military command needed to alter its approach if it was to win popular support and triumph. Alston accused officials of blocking his attempts to discover details of the rules of engagement under which Nato troops were fighting.
'There has been no acknowledgement from Nato that there is a problem in relation to civilian casualties and how it is dealt with and still there is no transparency on the issue.'
Afghan president Hamid Karzai has ordered that any foreign military operations be subject to a new set of rules enforceable under international law.
The UN condemnation of international operations will deepen the unease in Whitehall that British forces risk losing the hearts of the Afghan public.
The Ministry of Defence is investigating a rocket attack in which British troops accidentally killed four civilians, including women and children.
A separate UN inquiry last week found 60 children had been killed in US-led coalition air strikes in western Afghanistan. British forces in Helmand province routinely call in American air strikes when they come under attack.
Internal US air force figures reveal that 272 tonnes of bombs were dropped on Afghanistan during June and July - the same amount dropped on the country during all of 2006. At least 500 civilians have died this year as a result of the actions of foreign forces.
'[The coalition] told me that their rules of engagement hadn't changed which is strange. If you look at the increased use of aerial bombing, the numbers don't seem to add up,' said Alston.
His chief concern was night raids by foreign intelligence agencies which appeared to take place without accountability to the Afghan government and left those subjected to them with three choices. 'They can either stay in their home and run the risk of being shot in their bed. Secondly, they could try and run, in which they would be shot, or thirdly, they fire back in which case they are treated as a terrorist and shot.'
A growing consensus was emerging among Afghans that foreign forces were raping women. 'There is also a cultural element which seems to be that if a male [soldier] goes into a female's bedroom it is perceived as the equivalent of rape.'
An MoD spokesman said: 'The UK military carry out detailed planning and use precision weapons when targeting enemy strongholds. Sadly, even with all these measures, there is still a risk of civilian casualties, particularly given the Taliban preference for basing themselves in public buildings.'
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