This photo taken on Dec. 24, 2023 shows houses destroyed by bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops in Ismael Khil village of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Years later, Afghan villagers still vividly remember the operations and bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops during their 20-year presence in the war-torn country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
ISMAEL KHIL, Afghanistan, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Years later, Afghan villagers still vividly remember the operations and bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops during their 20-year presence in the war-torn country.
Sayed Aziz, a resident of eastern Wardak province, stays in a mud house in the ruined Ismael Khil village. He whispered with sorrow that one U.S. aerial strike had killed 10 people including eight of his brother Qari's family members more than a decade ago.
Recalling the miserable time, Aziz said the U.S. ground forces came to the area and the warplanes conducted air raids, killing innocent villagers including women and children.
"Qari's children, wife and grandchildren were killed. Qari was just a poor farmer," said Aziz, who survived the strikes.
"It was a tragic day. Troops came, warplanes appeared and dropped bombs. A bomb hit a 16-year-old girl while she was washing cups to have tea," Aziz recalled.
Bearing in mind the awful day, Aziz said that Qari was irrigating his farmland when the air raids started. When he returned home, he found he lost everything.
According to Aziz, the United States did nothing good to Afghans. "The Americans dropped bombs on people, on children and even on weddings," he said.
Echoing Aziz, villager Hajji Esmatullah confirmed that the U.S. troops had killed Afghan civilians during their presence in the country.
The old man said he was on the street and saw the warplanes dropping bombs. "The first bomb killed a villager inside his shop and the second one struck Qari's house, killing his family members including his 14-year-old daughter," said Esmatullah.
Najibullah, who got mental problems from the same attacks, said the U.S. troops targeted everyone without distinguishing if the targets were civilians or not.
Taking Xinhua reporters to the graveyard of the village, the mentally suffered Najibullah pointed to a grave and whispered "This is my cousin Gulab."
"In Afghanistan, they (U.S. troops) have trampled the human rights," the Wardak's provincial head for Information and Culture Mawlawi Habibullah Mujahid told Xinhua. ■
This photo taken on Dec. 24, 2023 shows houses destroyed by bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops in Ismael Khil village of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Years later, Afghan villagers still vividly remember the operations and bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops during their 20-year presence in the war-torn country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
This photo taken on Dec. 24, 2023 shows houses destroyed by bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops in Ismael Khil village of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Years later, Afghan villagers still vividly remember the operations and bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops during their 20-year presence in the war-torn country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
This photo taken on Dec. 24, 2023 shows a man standing near the houses destroyed by bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops in Ismael Khil village of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Years later, Afghan villagers still vividly remember the operations and bombardments conducted by the U.S. troops during their 20-year presence in the war-torn country. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)