Karzai says no more airstrikes in residential areas
Source: Agencies |
June 11, 2012, Monday
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NATO will not conduct any more airstrikes in residential areas, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said, speaking after 18 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed in a recent raid.
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has apologized for the killings in Logar province during a joint operation with Afghan forces on Wednesday and promised an investigation.
Karzai met Allen and US ambassador Ryan Crocker on Saturday and said such strikes were a violation of a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries last month both in "text and spirit," the president's office said.
"NATO commander once again officially apologized about the civilian casualties in Baraki Barak district of Logar and agreed with President Karzai. He gave a commitment that his forces will not launch airstrikes in residential areas," it said.
NATO initially said its forces and Afghan troops came under fire during the operation to capture a Taliban commander and they called for an airstrike.
It said operational reports indicated that two women received non-life threatening injuries and that a number of insurgents were killed.
Later, as villagers displayed bodies of women and children, the NATO-led force said it had ordered an investigation. Nine of the victims were children, five were women and three were elderly people, police said.
Karzai's chief spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said the airstrike was ordered without coordinating with Afghan forces on the ground.
They had surrounded the compound and if there was firing coming from inside they could have dealt with it, he said.
The US-led NATO force, preparing to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces by 2014, has stepped up operations against the Taliban in the south and east of the country.
But the death of civilians in some of these operations has fuelled resentment against foreign forces.
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has apologized for the killings in Logar province during a joint operation with Afghan forces on Wednesday and promised an investigation.
Karzai met Allen and US ambassador Ryan Crocker on Saturday and said such strikes were a violation of a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries last month both in "text and spirit," the president's office said.
"NATO commander once again officially apologized about the civilian casualties in Baraki Barak district of Logar and agreed with President Karzai. He gave a commitment that his forces will not launch airstrikes in residential areas," it said.
NATO initially said its forces and Afghan troops came under fire during the operation to capture a Taliban commander and they called for an airstrike.
It said operational reports indicated that two women received non-life threatening injuries and that a number of insurgents were killed.
Later, as villagers displayed bodies of women and children, the NATO-led force said it had ordered an investigation. Nine of the victims were children, five were women and three were elderly people, police said.
Karzai's chief spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said the airstrike was ordered without coordinating with Afghan forces on the ground.
They had surrounded the compound and if there was firing coming from inside they could have dealt with it, he said.
The US-led NATO force, preparing to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces by 2014, has stepped up operations against the Taliban in the south and east of the country.
But the death of civilians in some of these operations has fuelled resentment against foreign forces.
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