A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits armed with Hellfire missiles and a 500-pound bomb in a hanger at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith/File Photo
Reuters: U.S. drone pilots defend tactics as Afghans question civilian toll
They are speaking about the same deadly drone war that the United States has been waging this year, but talk to the U.S. military and Afghan civilians and their conclusions about who is targeted are often starkly different.
To the Americans, only enemy combatants were killed by missiles fired from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan in 2016. Eyewitness accounts, however, along with United Nations reports, suggest dozens of civilians were among the casualties.
"People seem to think we just shoot missiles at random," Lieutenant Shaw, a drone operator in his 20s told Reuters at the U.S. Air Force's base in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. "But if anything, we are better equipped than many manned aircraft to make sure we have the right guy."
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WNU editor: The U.S. military say one thing .... people on the ground are saying another .... Relations between US and UN strained over Afghanistan war reports (The Guardian).
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