The United Nations said on Thursday that eight Afghan students died in a controversial night-time raid last weekend, which Nato-led forces say only targeted insurgents but Afghan officials say killed 10 civilians. Kai Eide, UN Special Representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement that preliminary investigations into the incident showed there were militants in the area at the time of the attack, but eight of the dead were teenaged civilians enrolled in local schools.
The deaths, in eastern Kunar province, have sparked demonstrations about civilian casualties of the eight year war by hundreds of people in at least three Afghan cities. The operation was a joint raid by Afghan and international military forces, Eide added, and condemned the practice of night-time attacks on suspected insurgent shelters.
"The United Nations remains concerned about night-time raids given that they often result in lethal outcomes for civilians, the dangerous confusion that frequently arises when a family compound is invaded, and the frustration of local authorities when operations are not co-ordinated with them," Eide said.
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