Military Madness > British troops in Afghanistan for 8 years - 64 child casualties, or, perhaps twice that

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Dozens of Afghan children died during British military action

By Clyde Hughes

A U.S. Marine assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force shows his video camera to children awaiting evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 22, 2021. A new report said at least 64 children died during British operations in Afghanistan. File Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Melissa Marnell/USMC/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A London-based war-violence research watchdog said in a new study Wednesday that dozens of Afghan children were killed during military actions by British forces, and the government paid out an average of $1,884 for each death.

The nonprofit Action on Armed Violence said it has confirmed that 64 Afghan children died in action involving the British military from 2006-2014, some four times higher than previously thought. The organization said the actual number of deaths could be as high as 135.

The British Ministry of Defense previously said 16 Afghan children died following British military action.

The organization, which analyzed compensation payments to Afghan families, said records beyond the 64 confirmed child deaths were not clear. Information in those reports mentioned terms such as "son," "daughter" or "nephew," without confirmation of ages.

"Of course, it is possible to be an adult son, daughter or nephew but Afghanistan has a young population, the median age is 18, so the likelihood of someone's child being a minor is high," the report said. "Even if just half of these additional victims were under 18, that would bring the number of children killed by British forces to 100."

The report went on to say it found no evidence of British forces specifically targeting children in the incidents."

Did they find any evidence that they deliberately avoided targeting children?

A report last year from Action on Armed Violence said Britain paid out $944,348.80 in compensation for almost 300 civilian deaths during the Afghanistan conflict. At the time, that included 86 children and 203 adult civilians.