The headline ("NATO Airstrikes, Clashes Kill 25 Afghans") and opening paragraph of this typically-slanted news story are misleading:
Afghanistan - Taliban militants attacked police posts in southern Afghanistan, triggering NATO airstrikes that left 25 civilians dead, including three infants and the local mullah, a senior police officer said Friday.
The real story--the extent to which the Taliban is using and abusing civilians--is buried deep in the article:
Taliban used at least two civilian compounds for cover during the clashes, which lasted into early Friday, Andiwal said. [snip]Sounds a lot like recent tactics in Gaza too, doesn't it? As a friend said recently... Evil walks among us.
Taliban fighters tried to force local civilians to fight alongside them, "and killed citizens who refused — they were hauled out of their houses by the Taliban and executed," Berlijn said.
"One police checkpoint commander saw two brothers murdered before his eyes by the Taliban," he said. Another police report said "eight women were murdered — they had their throats slashed."
