The British military paid $165,332 in compensation after the deaths of 64 youngsters in Afghanistan, a brand new report says.
British forces have paid compensation for the deaths of 64 youngsters in Afghanistan, a toll 4 occasions increased than the 16 youngster deaths publicly acknowledged by the Ministry of Defence, in keeping with a brand new report.
Motion on Armed Violence (AOAV), a United Kingdom-based charity, discovered that the British authorities paid, on common, £1,656 ($1,894) in compensation for every particular person killed.
Between 2006-2014, “there have been 64 confirmed youngster victims in Afghanistan the place the British navy paid compensation, though the variety of youngsters killed might be as excessive as 135”.
Moreover, AOAV discovered that between April 2007 and December 2012, there have been 38 incidents involving the 64 youngster deaths.
The typical age of a kid killed was six years previous, and air strikes had been the most typical reason behind loss of life listed.
‘Tragedy’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence responded to the brand new report, saying: “Any civilian loss of life throughout battle is a tragedy, extra so when youngsters and members of the family are concerned.
“The UK Armed Forces works laborious to minimise that threat, which regrettably can by no means be completely eradicated.”
Compensation
Whole payouts by the navy amounted to £144,593 ($165,332), however the report defined this included the deaths of adults.
Households trying to say compensation for the lack of a relative had been anticipated to indicate proof, together with beginning certificates and interviews with British personnel, to verify there was no affiliation with the Taliban.
“The vast majority of the 881 fatality claims dropped at the ACO (Allied Commander Operations) had been rejected. Only one-quarter of these acquired any compensation.”
Iain Overton, govt director of Motion on Armed Violence, stated: “The variety of youngsters killed following British navy motion in Helmand ought to give pause for thought.
“Struggle invariably results in loss of life and fashionable warfare will at all times deliver civilian casualties, however not reporting on such deaths – nonetheless a lot it may be a supply of remorse and horror to the troopers concerned within the killings and nonetheless unintentional such deaths had been – can be an omission of accountability and an erosion of fact.
“This report hopes to offer some particulars to the often-forgotten youngsters killed in warfare and, ultimately, to ship a warning to future Westminster politicians who would possibly contemplate sending troops into battle,” Overton stated.