Updated on
Summary Afghan President says NATO will not conduct any more air strikes in residential areas.
NATO will not conduct any moreair strikes in residential areas, Afghan President Hamid Karzaisaid, after 18 civilians, most of them women and children, werekilled in a recent raid provoking fresh rage against foreignforces.The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General JohnAllen, has apologised for the killings in Logar province duringa joint operation with Afghan forces on Wednesday and promisedan investigation into circumstances leading to the air strike.Karzai met Allen and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker onSaturday and said that such strikes were a violation of astrategic partnership agreement between the two countries lastmonth both in text and spirit, the presidents office said astatement late on Saturday.NATO commander once again officially apologised about thecivilian casualties in Baraki Barak district of Logar and agreedwith President Karzai. He gave a commitment that his forces willnot launch air strikes in residential areas, it said.NATO initially said its forces and Afghan troops came underfire during the operation to capture a Taliban commander andthey called for an air strike.It said operational reports indicated that two womenreceived non-life threatening injuries and that a number ofinsurgents were killed.Later, as villagers displayed bodies of women and childrenfrom the ruins of two houses, the NATO-led force said it hadordered an investigation. Nine of the victims were children,including an infant, five were women and three were elderlypeople, police said.Karzais chief spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said the air strikewas ordered unilaterally without coordinating with the Afghanforces on the ground.Afghan forces had surrounded the compound and if there wasfiring coming from inside they could have dealt with it, hesaid. A few minutes of patience would have saved the lives ofcivilians.The U.S.-led NATO force, preparing to hand over securityresponsibilities to Afghan forces by 2014, has stepped upoperations against the Taliban in the south and east of thecountry.But the deaths of civilians in some of these operations hasfuelled resentment against foreign forces and become a rallyingcause for the Taliban fighting to throw them out of the country.If the bombings on Afghan homes continue, they will beregarded as a violation and an act of aggression, Faizi said.
