2010 Sangin airstrike
Civilians killing during NATO attack
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On July 23, 2010, a NATO attack killed and injured many Afghan civilians, most of whom were women and children, in the village of Sangin in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
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The Afghan government claimed that a helicopter-gunship rocket strike killed 52 civilians.[1] Many other civilians including children were also injured and treated at Kandahar hospital.[2][1][3] For weeks, US military and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials denied that there had been any such incident.[4]
About 200-400 people took to the streets in Kabul, protesting the killing of civilians by foreign troops, carrying photos of those who died in the airstrike.[5][6]
The Karzai government sent investigators to the site, who concluded that 39 civilians were killed in the rocket strike.
According to a statement by the Presidential Palace, the investigation confirmed that 39 civilians had been killed by NATO-led troops in Sangin.[7] The figure was lower than the initially reported 45–52. According to the investigation, all 39 dead were women or children.