The U.S. says the number of civilians killed in airstrikes is much lower than figures reported by Afghan officials.

The U.S. is disputing the number of Afghan civilians killed by airstrikes in Farah province earlier this month, estimating that 20 to 30 non-combatants were killed.

Afghan officials have said about 140 civilians were killed.

Jason Motlagh of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting writes that this is not the first time that the U.S. has disputed civilian casualty figures.

Afghanistan: Echoes of Azizabad

The US military said yesterday that only 20-35 civilians were killed in airstrikes in western Afghanistan earlier this month, disputing the claims of the Afghan government and independent investigators.

Afghan officials maintain that 140 civilians died in the US bombardment of three villages in Farah province’s Bala Boluk district, which, if true, would amount to the single deadliest attack on civilians since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban in 2001.

After a week long probe, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, the leading group of its kind in the country, reported that evidence on the ground indicated between 90-100 people died, mostly civilians.

Now, more than two weeks later, the US military says its own investigation shows that 80-95 people were killed, mostly Taliban.

A spokesman said that video footage from cameras on board a B-1 bomber involved in the engagement showed two groups of about 30 people entering village homes before they were bombed, with confirmation from ground commanders.

It was unclear based on the footage if the moving figures were in fact Taliban. That was proven, the spokesman added, by “other information which I wish I could release.”

The limited number of graves also cast doubt on the Afghan government’s death toll, he said, before conceding that power of the bombs dropped would leave little to examine.

“We blew those buildings apart,” said Col. Greg Julian. “There’s not going to be much to bury.”

If this scenario sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

Recall the controversial airstrike last August on Azizabad village, in Herat province, an attack the US military says was carried out based on ground intelligence that a senior Taliban commander was in the area.

Here again, conflicting reports emerged.

Afghan authorities and the United Nations claimed that 90 people were killed based on grave counts and interviews. The US military initially countered that no civilians died, just Taliban militants.

Only after widespread protests — and circulation of a mobile phone video that showed around 40 bodies — was a follow-up inquiry launched.

The inquiry took several weeks to be completed. In the end, the death toll was raised to 33, with US officials still insisting that two-thirds of those killed were Taliban — nearly identical to the Farah assessment.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user publik15 under a Creative Commons license.

Yingxiu Elementary School in Sichuan Province, China.

Next week, it will be one year since China was shaken by a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province. Up to 90,000 people were killed or went missing.

On Thursday at a news conference, officials released the names of 5,335 children who died, many of them in classrooms that crumbled in the quake. Previous unofficial estimates had put the number as high as 10,000.

The officials also said they found no evidence of shoddy school construction, as many residents have claimed. Parents and activists disputed the findings.

Worldfocus associate producer Hsin-Yin Lee translated several reactions posted on the Chinese-language news portal Sina: 

User 1: How about the investigation over those slipshod construction projects? A year has passed. Why are our school buildings so weak? The managing department is guilty of the most heinous crime for cuasing these families great pain.

User 2: It’s appropriate that the Sichuan province released the death toll after such a long period of time — it showed respect toward the dead and the feelings of the survivors.  

User 3: It is an extremely difficult task to figure out how many people have died in the massive earthquake. I am impressed by the death toll because it provided a precise number. I see respect toward every victim. I hope the dead can rest in peace.

Bloggers Bulbul Gupta and Pan Yi write that the government has been more open in the wake of the Sichuan quake than after prior natural disasters: 

The progress in reconstruction is a major achievement, but there has been something else of equal significance, and that is progress in the government’s approach to disaster management. It is markedly more open than it was during major natural disasters in the 1990s, in terms of providing information about reconstruction and in terms of coordinating and cooperating with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and community groups on disaster relief and management. The government plans to mark the one year anniversary of the earthquake, known in China as “5-12,” with events to raise public awareness about disaster preparedness.

Chinese blogger Ai Weiwei differs, challenging the government’s credibility [translation]: 

The Sichuan government has destroyed itself again in front of world public [...]  I did not believe anything that you said today.

Michael Howe of the “Give2Asia” group writes that in the tragedy’s wake, communities came together:

The quake [...] marked as a turning point for Chinese philanthropy.

Prior to the earthquake, philanthropy in China was a concept and activity relegated to the ultra wealthy within the country, and to corporate philanthropy from domestic and international businesses. However, the earthquake changed all of that - beginning with a groundswell of support from tens of millions of Chinese people from all walks of life, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user juliakao under a Creative Commons license.