Six people are currently blockading the main gate at RAF Lakenheath. Their banner states: Stop the War Crimes Not The Protests. They have photographs that indicate that 492 Squadron from Lakenheath dropped over 1,000 bombs in the recent 4 month deployment in Afghanistan possibly including cluster bombs.
Anti-war protesters took their demonstration to RAF Lakenheath on the same day as an anti-war protest outside Parliament was banned. The protesters claim to have new evidence about the scale of bombings, including the possible use of controversial cluster bombs and civilian deaths by planes from Lakenheath during their recent deployment at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.
Six of the protestors chained themselves together blocking the main entrance to the base. Police have called for a specialised cutting team who will be arriving in the next hour. The protestors produced pictures of markings on the planes showing the number and type of bombs dropped during the campaign. They claim that this indicates that over one thousand bombs were dropped during the 492 Fighter Squadron’s recent four month deployment.
One of the controversial pictures was for sale on the website of ‘Stars and Stripes’ which is a paper for US military personnel and who have offices at RAF Lakenheath. The image shows that 76 bombs were dropped by one plane alone at a time when the excessive use of air power and the number of civilian deaths has drawn increasing criticism from human rights groups, the UN and repeated protests by US backed President Karzai. Other picture, the protestors claim, show what they believe to be cluster bombs.
Peter Lux who was one of the protesters at Lakenheath this morning said: “this shows that a very small percentage of air strikes are actually reported in the media and we are very concerned since investigations into reported strikes show many civilian casualties”.
“We have been very concerned by reports of civilian deaths including the targeting of buildings where it was known that children were present” explained Mell Harrison from Eastern Region CND, “we find the fact that the US military are selling photographs rejoicing in such acts sickening”.
The base has been the site of many protests mainly due to the claim that over 100 nuclear bombs are stored at the base – a fact that the US military will neither confirm nor deny. Last year eight people broke into the base and chained themselves to the gate of a munitions store where they claimed to have seen cluster bombs. These protesters are still awaiting trial.
Six of the protestors chained themselves together blocking the main entrance to the base. Police have called for a specialised cutting team who will be arriving in the next hour. The protestors produced pictures of markings on the planes showing the number and type of bombs dropped during the campaign. They claim that this indicates that over one thousand bombs were dropped during the 492 Fighter Squadron’s recent four month deployment.
One of the controversial pictures was for sale on the website of ‘Stars and Stripes’ which is a paper for US military personnel and who have offices at RAF Lakenheath. The image shows that 76 bombs were dropped by one plane alone at a time when the excessive use of air power and the number of civilian deaths has drawn increasing criticism from human rights groups, the UN and repeated protests by US backed President Karzai. Other picture, the protestors claim, show what they believe to be cluster bombs.
Peter Lux who was one of the protesters at Lakenheath this morning said: “this shows that a very small percentage of air strikes are actually reported in the media and we are very concerned since investigations into reported strikes show many civilian casualties”.
“We have been very concerned by reports of civilian deaths including the targeting of buildings where it was known that children were present” explained Mell Harrison from Eastern Region CND, “we find the fact that the US military are selling photographs rejoicing in such acts sickening”.
The base has been the site of many protests mainly due to the claim that over 100 nuclear bombs are stored at the base – a fact that the US military will neither confirm nor deny. Last year eight people broke into the base and chained themselves to the gate of a munitions store where they claimed to have seen cluster bombs. These protesters are still awaiting trial.
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