Afghans protest civilian deaths in foreign raid

Hundreds of Afghans joined street rallies in protest against the killing of 10 civilians, most of them teenage students, in a military raid by foreign forces over the weekend. Asadullah Wafa, head of a presidential delegation sent to investigate the weekend attack in Kunar province, one of the most remote and unstable corners of eastern Afghanistan, said he had confirmed that none of the dead was an insurgent.Eight boys, aged between 13 and 18, and two men in their 20s were killed, Wafa added. Civilian casualties caused by Western forces have stoked anger towards foreign troops, which NATO commander US General Stanley McChrystal says undermines his mission. Since taking command in June, McChrystal has issued new orders designed to reduce civilian deaths by placing limits on firepower use. Wafa's team spent several days interviewing local officials and relatives of the dead. NATO-led forces said the raid was a joint operation and it was still under investigation, but Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimi said Afghan troops had not taken part. Wafa said foreign troops had been airlifted in for the attack, resolving some confusion about an operation which had previously been described by senior officials as both an airstrike and a commando-style raid.Our gathering here is to express our sadness and our unhappiness and also demonstrate against the killing of innocent people of Afghanistan by foreign troops in Afghanistan, said Khalid Rashid, the leader of a protest in Kabul.NATO and other foreign troops continue bombardment on our people and continuously martyred our people, We, the people of Afghanistan strongly condemn this action, and ask for punishment for those behind this, said Abdul Fata, one of the protesters in Kabul. In Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, which borders Kunar, around 200 university students rallied in the streets to protest against the raid, demanding those responsible be brought to justice.Afghans are concerned that the influx of 30,000 more US troops ordered by Obama early this month to try to turn the tide of the war will result in more attacks and higher civilian casualties.