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In foreign raid:
Afghans protest civilian deaths
AFGHANISTAN: Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets on
Wednesday to protest against a raid by foreign troops which Afghan
officials say killed 10 civilians, but NATO forces said was a battle in
which 9 insurgents died.
The incident, which took place in a remote part of eastern
Afghanistan at the weekend, has inflamed tensions between the Afghan
government and Western forces.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and ordered an
investigation, but his denunciation comes at a time when there are signs
that foreign forces’ efforts to reduce civilian deaths may finally be
having some effect.
Karzai’s relationship with the West has soured following his
fraud-ridden re-election in August and he is under mounting pressure to
stamp out widespread government graft.
However, he is also under domestic pressure to do more to rein in
foreign troops. Civilian casualties in previous attacks by NATO-led
forces have stoked public anger towards both Westerners and the Afghan
government they are backing.
Asadullah Wafa, head of the presidential delegation sent to
investigate the weekend attack in Kunar province, one of the most remote
and unstable corners in the east, said on Wednesday he had confirmed
there were no insurgents among the dead.
“Those people that were killed were innocent civilians,” Wafa told
reporters. The victims were eight boys, aged between 13 and 18, and two
men in their 20s, he added.
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. The NATO-led force on Wednesday said they were
questioning the claims of civilian casualties and called for a joint
investigation with Afghan authorities.
A joint coalition and Afghan force entered the village of Ghazi Khan
in Narang district in search of a known insurgent group, the NATO-led
force said in a statement.
“As the joint assault force entered the village, they came under fire
from several buildings and in returning fire killed nine individuals,”
it said. Asadabad, Thursday, Reuters |
