US forces apologise for killings of nine children

The US Army has issued an apology after it emerged that it's helicopters had been responsible for gunning down nine children the mountains of eastern Afghanistan yesterday. One other young boy managed to escape.

The US Army confirmed that it's helicopter gunships opened fire on a group of people it believed to be insurgents. However, it has since emerged that the dead, who ranged from ages 9 to 15, were collecting firewood to heat their homes.

The one survivor, 11-year old Hemad, described what happened:

“We were almost done collecting the wood when suddenly we saw the helicopters come. There were two of them. The helicopters hovered over us, scanned us and we saw a green flash from the helicopters. Then they flew back high up and in a second round they hovered over us and started shooting. They fired a rocket which landed on a tree. The tree branches fell over me and shrapnel hit my right hand and my side. The helicopters couldn't see me as I was hidden by the branches. The helicopters shot the other boys one after another.”


This is the third incident in ten days that the US has been accused of murdering civilians.