| Night raid on Narang | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 People of Narang district mourning for the students killed in the raid | |||||||
| |||||||
The night raid on Narang was a night raid on a household in the village of Ghazi Khan in the early morning hours of December 27, 2009. The operation was authorized by NATO and resulted in the death of ten Afghan civilians, most of whom were students, and some of whom were children.[1][2][3] The status of the deceased was initially in dispute with NATO officials claiming the dead were Taliban members found with weapons and bomb making materials, while some Afghan government officials and local tribal authorities asserted they were civilians.[4]
According to an Afghan initial investigation led by Assadullah Wafa, the raiding party took off by helicopter from Kabul. The raiding party allegedly dragged the victims out of their beds and shot them in the head or chest. A survivor was subsequently interrogated and pictures were taken of the dead bodies. Investigations later determined that most of the victims were aged between 12 and 18 years and were enrolled in local schools.[3][5][6]
The Afghan government claimed US forces were involved, while statements by NATO asserted US and NATO forces did not participate in the shootings.[7] Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy said Afghan troops had not taken part in the operation.[8] Who exactly carried out the raid and shot the victims remains unclear.[3] In 2015 it became known that as part of the US covert Omega Program SEAL Team Six members in conjunction with CIA paramilitary officers and Afghan troops trained by the CIA carried out the assault.[9]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NATOadmitswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Afghans condemn 'civilian deaths'". Al Jazeera. December 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
bloodmoneywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Alissa J. Rubin and Abdul Waheed Wafa (December 29, 2009). "Afghan Leader Says Attack Killed Civilians, but NATO Says the Victims Were Taliban". New York Times.
- ^ "Afghan Investigation: Foreign Troops Killed School Children". Voice of America. December 30, 2009.
- ^ Stephen Smith (January 1, 2010). "U.N.: Afghans Slain in Raid Were Students". CBS News.
- ^ Jerome Starkey (February 26, 2010). "Hunt down the spy behind deaths of our children, say Afghan night raid survivors". The Times of London. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
protestwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Nicholas Kulish; Christopher Drew; Serge F. Kowalski; Sean D. Naylor; John Ismay (June 6, 2015). "SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines". The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2015.