VZCZCXRO2324
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #2760 2530955
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100955Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1404
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KABUL 002760 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV AF PREL GM
SUBJECT:  RESPONSE TO COALITION STRIKE IN KUNDUZ: 
"WE NEED MORE OF THIS" 
 
¶1. (SBU) Begin summary:  In stark contrast to the controversy in the 
international media surrounding the September 4 coalition airstrike 
on two tankers seized by insurgents south of Kunduz, there has been 
little fallout from or even criticism of the operation locally. If 
anything, the near-unanimous tone of Afghan officials in meetings 
with PRT Kunduz has been "we need more of this."  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a September 5 meeting at PRT Kunduz with COMISAF, the 
head of the Kunduz Provincial Council, Mohammadullah Wardak, did not 
mention civilian casualties, pushing instead for coalition forces to 
show more toughness toward insurgents. Wardak and another member of 
the Provincial Council said much the same thing in a meeting the 
following day with UNAMA. 
 
¶3. (SBU) At the provincial security meeting on September 6, the 
Governor and the provincial chiefs of the ANP, ANA, and NDS were 
unanimous in expressing support for the operation and in stating 
that those killed were either Taliban or "sympathizers and 
collaborators." They asked rhetorically, why would anyone go at 2 
o'clock in the morning, to a place that was about 700 m away from 
the nearest house? They said that, while it was possible some had 
gone to the fuel tankers to siphon fuel, this amounted to looting 
and was in itself a crime. According to Kunduz ANP Chief Gen. Abdul 
Rizzaq, those killed in the airstrike came from fourteen villages, 
some from outside the province, which he said suggested strongly 
they were anti-government elements rather than innocent victims. 
(Note:  the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, is 
investigating reports that civilians were killed in the airstrike. 
End note) 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a September 7 interview with German journalists, Gov. 
Mohammad Omar, who has had a tense relationship with the German PRT 
in the past, said no one had come forward to demand compensation, 
unlike in previous incidents where innocent civilians were killed or 
injured. Omar also said the authorities' estimate of total killed in 
the airstrike was 60 to 72, not 100 to 200 as has been reported in 
some media. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶5. (SBU) There have been very few issues on which the Governor, 
Provincial Council, Police, Army, and NDS in Kunduz have all agreed, 
but their reaction to the coalition airstrike has been remarkably 
unanimous and characterized by a genuine enthusiasm, something which 
we have not seen before when they were speaking about German 
military operations. Governor Mohammad Omar, for example, has had a 
tense relationship with the German PRT, yet he was absolutely 
beaming with smiles when he greeted the German PRT commander at the 
September 6 provincial security meeting. Part of this seems to be a 
positive reaction to the German military's willingness to use force, 
after years of complaints that German forces were shirking the fight 
with insurgents.  Afghans also appear to perceive the September 4 
airstrike in a different way than past incidents involving civilian 
casualties: In this case, some Afghan officials view those who may 
have gone to the tankers to siphon off fuel as at least partly to 
blame for what happened, as opposed to simply having been at the 
wrong place at the wrong time. State PRT Officer will continue to 
follow the impact of this incident on local views toward ISAF and 
the U.S. 
 
EIKENBERRY