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UN 'Alarmed' by US Killings of Afghan Children


Afghan children work at a local brick factory in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, October 8, 2012.
Afghan children work at a local brick factory in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, October 8, 2012.
A U.N. committee say it is "alarmed" about reports of the deaths of hundreds of children allegedly killed by U.S. military forces in Afghanistan in the past five years.

The Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of the Child said the children died from U.S. attacks and airstrikes.

The CRC said the deaths were "due notably to reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force."

The U.N. group called on the U.S. to take "concrete and firm precautionary measures and prevent indiscriminate use of force" to ensure that no more civilians and children are killed.

The committee last reviewed U.S. practices in Afghanistan in 2008.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday she had not seen the report, but would look into it.

Children's rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, Jo Becker, said "the U.S. can and should do more to protect children affected by armed conflict."
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