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Transparency International – Corruption perceptions index 2016

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Read full report on transparency.org 

Corruption perceptions index 2016
2016 Rank Country 2016 Score 2015 Score 2014 Score 2013 Score 2012 Score Region
1 Denmark 90 91 92 91 90 Europe and Central Asia
1 New Zealand 90 88 91 91 90 Asia Pacific
3 Finland 89 90 89 89 90 Europe and Central Asia
4 Sweden 88 89 87 89 88 Europe and Central Asia
5 Switzerland 86 86 86 85 86 Europe and Central Asia
6 Norway 85 87 86 86 85 Europe and Central Asia
7 Singapore 84 85 84 86 87 Asia Pacific
8 Netherlands 83 87 83 83 84 Europe and Central Asia
9 Canada 82 83 81 81 84 Americas
10 Germany 81 81 79 78 79 Europe and Central Asia
10 Luxembourg 81 81 82 80 80 Europe and Central Asia
10 United Kingdom 81 81 78 76 74 Europe and Central Asia
13 Australia 79 79 80 81 85 Asia Pacific
14 Iceland 78 79 79 78 82 Europe and Central Asia
15 Belgium 77 77 76 75 75 Europe and Central Asia
15 Hong Kong 77 75 74 75 77 Asia Pacific
17 Austria 75 76 72 69 69 Europe and Central Asia
18 United States 74 76 74 73 73 Americas
19 Ireland 73 75 74 72 69 Europe and Central Asia
20 Japan 72 75 76 74 74 Asia Pacific
21 Uruguay 71 74 73 73 72 Americas
22 Estonia 70 70 69 68 64 Europe and Central Asia
23 France 69 70 69 71 71 Europe and Central Asia
24 Bahamas 66 N/A 71 71 71 Americas
24 Chile 66 70 73 71 72 Americas
24 United Arab Emirates 66 70 70 69 68 Middle East and North Africa
27 Bhutan 65 65 65 63 63 Asia Pacific
28 Israel 64 61 60 61 60 Middle East and North Africa
29 Poland 62 62 61 60 58 Europe and Central Asia
29 Portugal 62 63 63 62 63 Europe and Central Asia
31 Barbados 61 N/A 74 75 76 Americas
31 Qatar 61 71 69 68 68 Middle East and North Africa
31 Slovenia 61 60 58 57 61 Europe and Central Asia
31 Taiwan 61 62 61 61 61 Asia Pacific
35 Botswana 60 63 63 64 65 Sub Saharan Africa
35 Saint Lucia 60 N/A N/A 71 71 Americas
35 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 60 N/A 67 62 62 Americas
38 Cape Verde 59 55 57 58 60 Sub Saharan Africa
38 Dominica 59 N/A 58 58 58 Americas
38 Lithuania 59 61 58 57 54 Europe and Central Asia
41 Brunei 58 N/A N/A 60 55 Asia Pacific
41 Costa Rica 58 55 54 53 54 Americas
41 Spain 58 58 60 59 65 Europe and Central Asia
44 Georgia 57 52 52 49 52 Europe and Central Asia
44 Latvia 57 55 55 53 49 Europe and Central Asia
46 Grenada 56 N/A N/A N/A N/A Americas
47 Cyprus 55 61 63 63 66 Europe and Central Asia
47 Czech Republic 55 56 51 48 49 Europe and Central Asia
47 Malta 55 56 55 56 57 Europe and Central Asia
50 Mauritius 54 53 54 52 57 Sub Saharan Africa
50 Rwanda 54 54 49 53 53 Sub Saharan Africa
52 Korea (South) 53 56 55 55 56 Asia Pacific
53 Namibia 52 53 49 48 48 Sub Saharan Africa
54 Slovakia 51 51 50 47 46 Europe and Central Asia
55 Croatia 49 51 48 48 46 Europe and Central Asia
55 Malaysia 49 50 52 50 49 Asia Pacific
57 Hungary 48 51 54 54 55 Europe and Central Asia
57 Jordan 48 53 49 45 48 Middle East and North Africa
57 Romania 48 46 43 43 44 Europe and Central Asia
60 Cuba 47 47 46 46 48 Americas
60 Italy 47 44 43 43 42 Europe and Central Asia
62 Sao Tome and Principe 46 42 42 42 42 Sub Saharan Africa
62 Saudi Arabia 46 52 49 46 44 Middle East and North Africa
64 Montenegro 45 44 42 44 41 Europe and Central Asia
64 Oman 45 45 45 47 47 Middle East and North Africa
64 Senegal 45 44 43 41 36 Sub Saharan Africa
64 South Africa 45 44 44 42 43 Sub Saharan Africa
64 Suriname 45 36 36 36 37 Americas
69 Greece 44 46 43 40 36 Europe and Central Asia
70 Bahrain 43 51 49 48 51 Middle East and North Africa
70 Ghana 43 47 48 46 45 Sub Saharan Africa
72 Burkina Faso 42 38 38 38 38 Sub Saharan Africa
72 Serbia 42 40 41 42 39 Europe and Central Asia
72 Solomon Islands 42 N/A N/A N/A N/A Asia Pacific
75 Bulgaria 41 41 43 41 41 Europe and Central Asia
75 Kuwait 41 49 44 43 44 Middle East and North Africa
75 Tunisia 41 38 40 41 41 Middle East and North Africa
75 Turkey 41 42 45 50 49 Europe and Central Asia
79 Belarus 40 32 31 29 31 Europe and Central Asia
79 Brazil 40 38 43 42 43 Americas
79 China 40 37 36 40 39 Asia Pacific
79 India 40 38 38 36 36 Asia Pacific
83 Albania 39 36 33 31 33 Europe and Central Asia
83 Bosnia and Herzegovina 39 38 39 42 42 Europe and Central Asia
83 Jamaica 39 41 38 38 38 Americas
83 Lesotho 39 44 49 49 45 Sub Saharan Africa
87 Mongolia 38 39 39 38 36 Asia Pacific
87 Panama 38 39 37 35 38 Americas
87 Zambia 38 38 38 38 37 Sub Saharan Africa
90 Colombia 37 37 37 36 36 Americas
90 Indonesia 37 36 34 32 32 Asia Pacific
90 Liberia 37 37 37 38 41 Sub Saharan Africa
90 Morocco 37 36 39 37 37 Middle East and North Africa
90 The FYR of Macedonia 37 42 45 44 43 Europe and Central Asia
95 Argentina 36 32 34 34 35 Americas
95 Benin 36 37 39 36 36 Sub Saharan Africa
95 El Salvador 36 39 39 38 38 Americas
95 Kosovo 36 33 33 33 34 Europe and Central Asia
95 Maldives 36 N/A N/A N/A N/A Asia Pacific
95 Sri Lanka 36 37 38 37 40 Asia Pacific
101 Gabon 35 34 37 34 35 Sub Saharan Africa
101 Niger 35 34 35 34 33 Sub Saharan Africa
101 Peru 35 36 38 38 38 Americas
101 Philippines 35 35 38 36 34 Asia Pacific
101 Thailand 35 38 38 35 37 Asia Pacific
101 Timor-Leste 35 28 28 30 33 Asia Pacific
101 Trinidad and Tobago 35 39 38 38 39 Americas
108 Algeria 34 36 36 36 34 Middle East and North Africa
108 Côte d´Ivoire 34 32 32 27 29 Sub Saharan Africa
108 Egypt 34 36 37 32 32 Middle East and North Africa
108 Ethiopia 34 33 33 33 33 Sub Saharan Africa
108 Guyana 34 29 30 27 28 Americas
113 Armenia 33 35 37 36 34 Europe and Central Asia
113 Bolivia 33 34 35 34 34 Americas
113 Vietnam 33 31 31 31 31 Asia Pacific
116 Mali 32 35 32 28 34 Sub Saharan Africa
116 Pakistan 32 30 29 28 27 Asia Pacific
116 Tanzania 32 30 31 33 35 Sub Saharan Africa
116 Togo 32 32 29 29 30 Sub Saharan Africa
120 Dominican Republic 31 33 32 29 32 Americas
120 Ecuador 31 32 33 35 32 Americas
120 Malawi 31 31 33 37 37 Sub Saharan Africa
123 Azerbaijan 30 29 29 28 27 Europe and Central Asia
123 Djibouti 30 34 34 36 36 Sub Saharan Africa
123 Honduras 30 31 29 26 28 Americas
123 Laos 30 25 25 26 21 Asia Pacific
123 Mexico 30 35 35 34 34 Americas
123 Moldova 30 33 35 35 36 Europe and Central Asia
123 Paraguay 30 27 24 24 25 Americas
123 Sierra Leone 30 29 31 30 31 Sub Saharan Africa
131 Iran 29 27 27 25 28 Middle East and North Africa
131 Kazakhstan 29 28 29 26 28 Europe and Central Asia
131 Nepal 29 27 29 31 27 Asia Pacific
131 Russia 29 29 27 28 28 Europe and Central Asia
131 Ukraine 29 27 26 25 26 Europe and Central Asia
136 Guatemala 28 28 32 29 33 Americas
136 Kyrgyzstan 28 28 27 24 24 Europe and Central Asia
136 Lebanon 28 28 27 28 30 Middle East and North Africa
136 Myanmar 28 22 21 21 15 Asia Pacific
136 Nigeria 28 26 27 25 27 Sub Saharan Africa
136 Papua New Guinea 28 25 25 25 25 Asia Pacific
142 Guinea 27 25 25 24 24 Sub Saharan Africa
142 Mauritania 27 31 30 30 31 Middle East and North Africa
142 Mozambique 27 31 31 30 31 Sub Saharan Africa
145 Bangladesh 26 25 25 27 26 Asia Pacific
145 Cameroon 26 27 27 25 26 Sub Saharan Africa
145 Gambia 26 28 29 28 34 Sub Saharan Africa
145 Kenya 26 25 25 27 27 Sub Saharan Africa
145 Madagascar 26 28 28 28 32 Sub Saharan Africa
145 Nicaragua 26 27 28 28 29 Americas
151 Tajikistan 25 26 23 22 22 Europe and Central Asia
151 Uganda 25 25 26 26 29 Sub Saharan Africa
153 Comoros 24 26 26 28 28 Sub Saharan Africa
154 Turkmenistan 22 18 17 17 17 Europe and Central Asia
154 Zimbabwe 22 21 21 21 20 Sub Saharan Africa
156 Cambodia 21 21 21 20 22 Asia Pacific
156 Democratic Republic of Congo 21 22 22 22 21 Sub Saharan Africa
156 Uzbekistan 21 19 18 17 17 Europe and Central Asia
159 Burundi 20 21 20 21 19 Sub Saharan Africa
159 Central African Republic 20 24 24 25 26 Sub Saharan Africa
159 Chad 20 22 22 19 19 Sub Saharan Africa
159 Haiti 20 17 19 19 19 Americas
159 Republic of Congo 20 23 23 22 26 Sub Saharan Africa
164 Angola 18 15 19 23 22 Sub Saharan Africa
164 Eritrea 18 18 18 20 25 Sub Saharan Africa
166 Iraq 17 16 16 16 18 Middle East and North Africa
166 Venezuela 17 17 19 20 19 Americas
168 Guinea-Bissau 16 17 19 19 25 Sub Saharan Africa
169 Afghanistan 15 11 12 8 8 Asia Pacific
170 Libya 14 16 18 15 21 Middle East and North Africa
170 Sudan 14 12 11 11 13 Middle East and North Africa
170 Yemen 14 18 19 18 23 Middle East and North Africa
173 Syria 13 18 20 17 26 Middle East and North Africa
174 Korea (North) 12 8 8 8 8 Asia Pacific
175 South Sudan 11 15 15 14 N/A Sub Saharan Africa
176 Somalia 10 8 8 8 8 Sub Saharan Africa

‘We had to sue’: the five lawyers taking on China’s authorities over smog

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The  Guardian

In an unprecedented legal case, a group of Chinese lawyers have charged the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei with failing to protect their citizens from air pollution, which is linked to a third of all deaths in the country

Pinterest
Airpocalypse now: time-lapse video of smog posted by Beijing-based Briton Chas Pope on 1 January this year

Who is responsible for China’s chronic and deadly air pollution? That depends on who you ask. Officials blame the weather or outdoor barbecues, activists blame steel companies and coal-fired power plants. But Yu Wensheng blames only one actor: the government.

The 50-year-old lawyer recently launched an unprecedented suit against the authorities in three regions in China, claiming they have failed in their responsibilities. For a government with the motto “Serve the People”, Yu feels the officials are serving other interests by allowing nearly half a billion people to choke on toxic smog. Tiếp tục đọc “‘We had to sue’: the five lawyers taking on China’s authorities over smog” →

Philippine bid to jail nine-year-olds is ‘a great child violation’, Unicef says

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The Guardian

Duterte’s allies have been pushing to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to nine

Children playing on a hill of garbage in the Philippines
Unicef says a nine-year-old is unable to fully comprehend the consequences of a crime. Photograph: Jes Aznar/Getty Images

, Southeast Asia correspondent

Sunday 12 February 2017 22.03 EST Last modified on Sunday 12 February 2017 22.06 EST

A law proposing children as young as nine be jailed for crimes is “wrong from every angle”, the head of the United Nations children’s agency in the Philippines has warned.

“If they grow up, spending their teenage years in a prison, they most probably will be damaged for life,” Unicef’s country representative, Lotta Sylwander, said in a telephone interview from Manila.

The current age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines is 15. President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies have been pushing to lower it, coupled with another draft bill that would restore the death penalty.Politicians opposing the bills say their passing could lead to a situation in which a nine-year-old may be sentenced to death. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippine bid to jail nine-year-olds is ‘a great child violation’, Unicef says” →

International Criminal Court told Australia’s detention regime could be a crime against humanity

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The Guardian

Submission argues ICC should investigate possible crimes ‘committed by individuals and corporate actors’

Asylum seekers on Manus Island in 2014
Asylum seekers on Manus Island in 2014. The Global Legal Action Network says Australia’s immigration detention regime could constitute a crime against humanity. Photograph: Eoin Blackwell/AAP

Australia’s offshore immigration detention regime could constitute a crime against humanity, a petition before the International Criminal Court from a coalition of legal experts has alleged.

On Monday morning, GMT, a 108-page legal submission from the Global Legal Action Network (Glan) and the Stanford International Human Rights Clinic was submitted to the court, detailing what the network describes as the “harrowing practices of the Australian state and corporations towards asylum seekers”. The petition submits the office of the prosecutor of the ICC should open an investigation into possible “crimes against humanity committed by individuals and corporate actors”.

“As recent leaks reveal, these privatised facilities entail long-term detention in inhumane conditions, often including physical and sexual abuse of adults and children,” Glan said in a statement. Tiếp tục đọc “International Criminal Court told Australia’s detention regime could be a crime against humanity” →

Indonesian Muslim school students protest Valentine’s Day

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 13 Feb 2017 20:26

An anti-Valentine’s Day rally in Surabaya, East Java province on February 13, 2017 AFP/Juni KriswantoSURABAYA, Indonesia: Indonesian Muslim school students staged a protest against Valentine’s Day on Monday (Feb 13), denouncing what they said was a Western celebration that encourages casual sex.

While teenagers in many countries treat the day as an occasion to declare love for their classmates, in the Indonesian city of Surabaya it was a different story as students from one school held a noisy demonstration.

“Say no to Valentine!” chanted the students, who were aged between 13 and 15 and included many girls wearing headscarves. Tiếp tục đọc “Indonesian Muslim school students protest Valentine’s Day” →

Pakistan high court bans Valentine’s Day

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 13 Feb 2017 21:42
  • Updated 13 Feb 2017 21:50

Pakistani vendors prepare heart-shaped bouquets for sale ahead of Valentine’s Day along a street in Islamabad on Feb 13, 2017. (AFP Photo/Aamir Qureshi)

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court Monday (Feb 13) banned public celebrations of Valentine’s Day in the capital Islamabad, the latest attempt by authorities to outlaw a holiday seen by many in the traditional Muslim society as vulgar and Western.

The Islamabad high court issued the order after a petitioner declared love was being used as a “cover” to spread “immorality, nudity and indecency… which is against our rich traditions and values”. Tiếp tục đọc “Pakistan high court bans Valentine’s Day” →

Saiga Antelopes Are Struck Again by a Plague in Central Asia

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By ERICA GOODE FEB. 8, 2017

The carcasses of saiga antelopes in Mongolia’s western Khovd province. Scientists have identified the culprit as a virus known as goat plague. WCS

They found the first carcasses in late December, on the frozen steppes of Mongolia’s western Khovd province.

By the end of January, officials in the region had recorded the deaths of 2,500 endangered saiga antelopes — about a quarter of the country’s saiga population — and scientists had identified a culprit: a virus called peste des petits ruminants, or P.P.R., also known as goat plague.

It was the first time the disease, usually seen in goats, sheep and other small livestock, had been found in free-ranging antelopes. For the saiga, an ancient animal that once roamed the grasslands of the world with the woolly mammoth and the saber-toothed tiger, the outbreak was potentially catastrophic.

The antelope’s numbers, once in the millions, have been severely depleted by illegal hunting, habitat loss and competition for food. The species is described as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.

In 2015, 211,000 saigas in Kazakhstan — more than half of the entire antelope species — were wiped out by a bacterial infection in less than a month.

Election in Indonesia’s Capital Could Test Ethnic and Religious Tolerance

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Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. While campaigning ahead of elections on Wednesday, Mr. Basuki, who is ethnic Chinese and a Christian, has also been defending himself in court against charges of blasphemy against Islam. Darren Whiteside/Reuters

JAKARTA, Indonesia — In one of the most contentious campaigns in the history of Indonesia’s young democracy, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, is battling on two fronts: in the court of public opinion and in the court of law.

Mr. Basuki, an ethnic Chinese Christian who leads the capital of the world’s most populous predominantly Muslim country, is not only campaigning in the election on Wednesday but also defending himself against criminal charges of blasphemy against Islam.

He and his chief political ally, President Joko Widodo, have labeled his court case a conspiracy by “political actors” who aim to quash his re-election bid for one of the country’s most powerful offices. Some political analysts also called the court case, which they say violates a decades-old ban on using ethnicity and religion as a political weapon, a move by opponents of Mr. Joko to weaken the president in the prelude to his 2019 re-election bid.

A series of rallies in Jakarta late last year that drew hundreds of thousands of hard-line Islamists, including one in November that turned violent and left one dead and hundreds injured, have eroded Mr. Basuki’s once double-digit lead.

Mr. Basuki is only the second non-Muslim governor of Jakarta since Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands in 1945. Wednesday’s election is viewed as a test of religious as well as ethnic tolerance in the country, which has more than 190 million Muslims among its population of 250 million, as well as influential religious minorities of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

E-mail click rates plunge 12.5% in Asia Pacific

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shutterstock_computer

E-mail click rates in Asia Pacific in Q3 2016 (July to September) have plunged 12.5% from Q2 – a likely consequence of a 53% increase in the average number of e-mails delivered per company at the same period, the latest study from Epsilon showed.

The analysis was compiled from 772 million e-mails sent by approximately 60 company in Q3 2016 across Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

E-mail open rates also showed a mild drop from 16.6% to 16.4%. In Q3 2015 the e-mail open rates was 19.6%. Non-bounce rates decreased slightly to 96.2% from 96.7% in Q2 2016 and are slightly higher than Q3 2015 (95.1%). Among all the email sent,  triggered messages accounted for 1.8% of total email volume in Q3 2016, above Q2 2016 (1.2%) and higher than Q1 2016 (0.8%). Tiếp tục đọc “E-mail click rates plunge 12.5% in Asia Pacific” →

Vì sao Nhà nước độc quyền 20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ?

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VE – Có những ý kiến trái chiều xung quanh dự thảo danh mục 20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ do Nhà nước độc quyền…

Vì sao Nhà nước độc quyền 20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ?
Sản xuất vàng miếng nằm trong danh mục 20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ do Nhà nước độc quyền.

20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ sẽ do Nhà nước độc quyền trong hoạt động thương mại. Đây là nội dung tại dự thảo nghị định về hàng hóa, dịch vụ, địa bàn thực hiện độc quyền Nhà nước trong hoạt động thương mại mà Bộ Công Thương vừa trình Chính phủ cho ý kiến.
 Tiếp tục đọc “Vì sao Nhà nước độc quyền 20 loại hàng hóa, dịch vụ?” →

Chỉ số cảm nhận tham nhũng 2016: Việt Nam tăng nhẹ về điểm số

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TT – Một hệ thống tư pháp liêm chính, nghiêm minh sẽ tạo ra sự thay đổi rõ nét trong cảm nhận về tham nhũng trong khu vực công

Ngày 25 tháng 1 năm 2017, Tổ chức Minh bạch Quốc tế (TI) công bố Chỉ số Cảm nhận Tham nhũng (CPI) 2016, xếp hạng 176 quốc gia và vùng lãnh thổ dựa trên cảm nhận của các doanh nhân và chuyên gia về tham nhũng trong khu vực công. Tiếp tục đọc “Chỉ số cảm nhận tham nhũng 2016: Việt Nam tăng nhẹ về điểm số” →

US, Japan, S Korea request UN Security Council meeting on N Korea

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 13 Feb 2017 08:38
  • Updated 13 Feb 2017 08:40

Passengers watch a TV screen broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

WASHINGTON: The United States, Japan and South Korea on Sunday (Feb 12) requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea’s latest missile test.

“The United States, along with Japan and the Republic of Korea, have requested urgent consultations on the DPRK’s launch of a ballistic missile on February 12,” said a US mission spokesperson.

The test was seen as a challenge to Donald Trump’s young presidency.

The request comes after North Korea’s state media quoted officials as saying the ballistic missile test was a “success”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “guided” the test, the KCNA report said, adding it was carried out in a way that took the “security of the neighbouring countries into consideration”. Tiếp tục đọc “US, Japan, S Korea request UN Security Council meeting on N Korea” →

China expels 32 South Korean missionaries amid tension over THAAD missile defense system

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Japan  Times

Reuters Feb 11, 2017

SEOUL – China has expelled 32 South Korean Christian missionaries, a South Korean government official said on Saturday, amid diplomatic tension between the two countries over the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in the South.

The 32 were based in China’s northeastern Yanji region near the border with North Korea, many of whom had worked there more than a decade, South Korean media have reported.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Friday it briefed Christian groups on the case of the missionaries, adding that they were expelled in January.

The ministry advised the groups on the importance of complying with the laws and customs of the areas where they work, it said. Tiếp tục đọc “China expels 32 South Korean missionaries amid tension over THAAD missile defense system” →

U.S., Chinese military planes in ‘unsafe’ encounter over disputed South China Sea

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Japan Times

A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols islands and reefs in the South China Sea in this undated photo. | XINHUA NEWS AGENCY / VIA AP
by Staff Writer Feb 10, 2017

A U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft and a Chinese military plane were involved in an “unsafe” encounter earlier this week in international airspace over the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Command said Friday.

The U.S. Navy P-3C was on a “routine mission” over the waters on Wednesday when the encounter with a Chinese military KJ-200 aircraft occurred, Pacific Command said.

The two planes flew within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of each other in the area of the contested Scarborough Shoal, just 230 km (140 miles) from the Philippine coast, CNN reported, citing unnamed U.S. defense officials.

Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by Manila, has been known as a potential flashpoint, and rumors of a push by China to build on the collection of rocky outcroppings have stoked concern in the region. Building at Scarborough would create a large “strategic triangle” covering much of the South China Sea that would give it the ability to declare and police an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) there. Tiếp tục đọc “U.S., Chinese military planes in ‘unsafe’ encounter over disputed South China Sea” →

NATO Checking Claim that U.S. Airstrikes Killed 22 Afghan Civilians

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By MUJIB MASHAL and TAIMOOR SHAH FEB. 11, 2017

Afghan police during an operation against Taliban militants in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province in January. Watan Yar/European Pressphoto Agency

KABUL, Afghanistan — The NATO mission in Afghanistan has opened a preliminary investigation into claims that more than 20 civilians were killed in recent American airstrikes in the southern province of Helmand, military officials said Saturday.

Elders from the Sangin district, the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks, with the Taliban blowing up Afghan Army posts there, have said that multiple American airstrikes early Friday morning killed at least 22 civilians, including several women and children.

Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, a spokesman for the American-led NATO mission, insisted that the military command had seen no conclusive evidence that civilians were killed in the airstrikes, but said that “a formal review to determine the credibility of the claims” had been opened. The investigation team involved NATO officers outside the American command to ensure impartiality, he added.