Khalilzad urges independent bodies, media included, to document casualties

In a series of tweets, Khalilzad said: “The answer to this tragic situation is an immediate reduction of violence leading to a ceasefire by all sides. The answer is to accelerate a political settlement.”
“The US is singularly focused on this goal & is pressing both parties to reduce violence & find a path to peace as soon as possible,” he tweeted. 
Khalilzad stated however that independent bodies also need to document current events. 
“It is vital that Afghanistan’s independent media and robust civil society be allowed to document current events,” he said.
This comes after a particularly violent week in Afghanistan in which dozens of civilians lost their lives. 
On Saturday, at least 18 people, mostly students, were killed in a suicide bombing close to an educational facility in Kabul city. 
Also on Saturday, nine people were killed in Ghazni when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a roadside bomb. 
Earlier in the week, an airstrike hit a mosque and school in Takhar province, killing at least 12 children. 
Reacting to this incident, Khalilzad tweed that Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission has confirmed 12 children were killed and many more injured in the airstrike by Afghan government forces.
“This is a terrible tragedy. Unfortunately, tragedy is not limited to Takhar. Civilians are victims of car bombs, IEDs, and targeted killings perpetrated by the Taliban. Civilians have been forced to flee fighting in Lashkar Gah and other areas.”
He said the US offers its “condolences to all the families of those killed and injured.”
This statement by Khalilzad follows on the heels of government’s rejection of claims last week that the Afghan National Army airstrike had hit a mosque and school. 
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh rejected the claims made by local officials in Takhar province and instead ordered the arrest of the individual who reported civilian casualties.
Local officials said 12 children had been killed and 18 civilians wounded in the strike in Hazara Qarluq village in Takhar on Wednesday morning.
Saleh, rejected claims, stated: “No child was killed in Afghan Air Force strike in Takhar.”
He also stated that the Taliban sniper unit “responsible for the massacre of our special forces a day earlier was targeted.”
“The person responsible for spread of this venomous and fake news was arrested immediately. Talibs use houses and mosques as shields,” Saleh tweeted.
Saleh also wrote on Facebook that legal action would be taken against those “who make false allegations.”
Meanwhile, associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch Patricia Gossman said on Thursday: “Vice President Amrullah Saleh is trying to silence those who reported a potentially unlawful airstrike that killed civilians, including many children,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director. 
“The government should immediately release anyone detained under Saleh’s order and carry out a thorough and impartial investigation of the airstrike.”