U.S.: Afghan militants use white phosphorus
KABUL, Afghanistan - The United States accused Afghan militants yesterday of using white phosphorus as a weapon in what it called "reprehensible" attacks on U.S. forces and in civilian areas.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The United States accused Afghan militants yesterday of using white phosphorus as a weapon in what it called "reprehensible" attacks on U.S. forces and in civilian areas.
The accusation comes two months after an Afghan girl, Razia, was wounded by white phosphorus in a battle between militants and NATO troops. Razia, 8, has received 10 skin grafts at the U.S. military hospital at Bagram. A U.S. military spokeswoman said her injuries could have been caused by either side.
U.S and NATO troops frequently use white phosphorus to illuminate targets and create smoke screens. Human-rights groups denounce its use as a weapon, or over populated areas, for the severe burns it causes.
The U.S. military declassified documents yesterday showing at least 38 instances in which militants had used white phosphorus in attacks or where weapons had been found in eastern Afghanistan, where the U.S. primarily operates. The NATO-led force supplied information on six other instances in the country.
The U.S. said militants used white phosphorus in improvised-explosive attacks at least seven times since spring 2007, some in civilian areas. The documents showed 12 attacks, the majority in the last two years, in which militants used white phosphorus in mortars or rockets.
On Thursday, a NATO outpost in Logar was hit with indirect white-phosphorus fire, the documents said. Most troops in Logar, just south of Kabul, are American.
Afghan authorities have also said Taliban fighters may have used a burning agent - possibly white phosphorus - in a major battle May 4, after doctors found unusual burns among the dead and wounded. President Hamid Karzai has said that up to 130 civilians died in that battle; the United States blamed militants for deliberately putting civilians in harm's way.
Doctors are treating 16 patients with severe burns from that battle, said Nader Nadery, an official with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the United States did not use white phosphorus in last week's fight in Farah province.
A Taliban spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
