Wouldn't it make a lot more sense for us to focus only on the humanitarian aid instead of bombing them? Yeah, I know there are huge logistical challenges - but are the challenges any worse than they are for trying to win a war?

Afghan refugees who fled the war-torn south have claimed they are so neglected by government in Kabul that their children are dying from hypothermia for want of the most basic supplies.

Families that left Helmand, Kandahar and other southern provinces to escape the fighting between US-led forces and a resurgent Taliban say the cold is much more lethal.

Living in a make-shift camp on the edge of Kabul, residents told Al Jazeera's James Bays that no government official has ever come to see how they have been forced to live.

The claim comes as UN officials say Afghan children are suffering disastrous levels of abuse and deprivation.

At a news conference marking the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child this week, officials said children’s rights were being neglected despite vast flows of Western aid into the country.

“Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world," said Catherine Mbengue, country representative for the UN children’s fund Unicef.

“Seventy per cent of the population has no access to safe drinking water. Thirty percent of children are involved in child labour. Forty-three per cent of girls are married under-age,” she said.

The family of a well-known and respected Afghan journalist, killed in an attack near the main Australian base in Afghanistan, has rejected compensation from the U.S. military and is seeking asylum in Australia. Omed Khpulwak, who worked for an Afghan news service as well as freelancing for other media outlets, including the BBC and Australia’s ABC News, was shot dead by U.S. troops in July. He was mistaken for a suicide bomber during an insurgent attack in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Oruzgan Province. His brother, Ahmad Jawid Khpulwak, told ABC News, "I want from Australian Government to please give us, to our family, the safety because Americans shoot us."

Omaid Khpulwak’s relatives are demanding a further investigation into his death. The U.S. soldier responsible for his death is not facing any disciplinary action in connection with the incident, according to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings. The attack in the southern Afghanistan town left 19 people dead after two Taliban suicide bombers struck the offices of state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan in Tarin Kot. U.S. forces were clearing the building after the attack when a soldier saw Khpulwak near a broken wall and others believed they heard him fire a shot.

Another soldier approached him and saw him "with something clinched in one of his fists and reaching for something on his person with his other hand," according to the ISAF’s report. "The soldier assessed the actions as those of a suicide bomber who was taking steps to detonate an IED (bomb). He shot the individual with his M-4 (assault rifle)… After a thorough investigation, it was determined the reporter was killed in a case of mistaken identity," ISAF said in a statement.

Continue reading »