Roadside Bomb Claims more Civilian lives

Injured Afghan civilians after Fridays roadside bomb attack  

While on their way to a wedding celebration, several Afghan civilians were killed. A roadside bomb struck a bus carrying 31 Afghans. Of these 31 Afghans 17 of them perished in the bombing. Many of these 17 claimed dead were mainly women and children. Abdul Rahman Zawandai, the spokesman for the provincial governor stated, “The minivan group was traveling and hit an improvised explosive device buried in a dirt road in Farah Province.” Farah Province is located in western Afghanistan. In fact the Farah Province has been a recent hot spot for roadside bombs. According to the New York Times, “It was the third time in less than 10 days that a bomb claimed the lives of civilians." Many civilians have bore the brunt of these attacks and many of these attacks have caused great loss of life. Those who have seen the aftermath of these attacks have experienced the horrors as well. According to chief of police of the Farah Province, General Aqqa Noor Kemtooz, “The remains of some victims were so badly mutilated that police could not determine their gender.” These are only a few the horrors some have experienced. The sad truth is there will most likely be more tragedies and horrors like this as we move forward.

            According to the NDTV, “Women and children accounted for about 30 percent of this years causalities.” When examining this available statistic we can demonstrate that there are many crimes being committed here. Now I understand accidents happen and some noncombatants will face death as a result of these accidents. But to have 30 percent of the deaths this year solely be a results from noncombatants seems horrendous to me. The moral issues that are at hand here need to be addressed. With the constant changing of the culture of war and the tactics used to fight these wars, many combatants and those who aid combatants need to be thinking of the larger picture on how to fight wars as to only include combatants. The weapons and tactics used just like the roadside bombs need to be eliminated. Clearly they are causing great loss of life amongst noncombatants. We need to think of Jus in Bello and how the rights and justifications of how war is to be fought. In my mind, that would mean eliminating the use of roadside bombs as a warfare mechanism. Since warfare tactics are evolving, the rules that govern and justify war should also be advancing.