Killing of US advisors in Kabul ‘unacceptable’- Pentagon
US: The Pentagon on Saturday decried as “unacceptable” the killing of
two US military advisers in Kabul and called on Afghan authorities to
better protect coalition forces and curtail raging violence. “This act
is unacceptable, and the United States condemns it in the strongest
possible terms,” said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's spokesman George
Little.
The two Americans, working as International Security Assistance Force
officers in the NATO coalition, were in the interior ministry when “an
individual” turned his weapon against the pair, NATO said, without
giving further details.
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it
was in revenge for the burning of Korans at a US-run military base -- an
incident that forced US President Barack Obama to apologize to the
Afghan people. Little said Afghanistan's Defense Minister Abdul Rahim
Wardak telephoned Panetta on Saturday and “apologized for today's
incident” and offered condolences to family members of those killed. The
shooting prompted General John Allen, commander of NATO's International
Security Assistance Force, to pull all NATO staff out of Afghan
government ministries, a move Panetta supported.
“The secretary supports the decision General Allen made to protect
our forces by immediately recalling ISAF personnel working in ministries
around Kabul.” Panetta urged Wardak and “the Afghan government to take
decisive action to protect coalition forces and curtail the violence in
Afghanistan after a challenging week in the country,” Little said.
Wardak also assured his American counterpart that Afghan President
Hamid Karzai “was assembling the religious leaders, parliamentarians,
justices of the Supreme Court, and other senior Afghan officials to take
urgent steps to do so,” the spokesman added.
The minister also “pledged his complete cooperation in investigating
today's tragedy and in taking stronger measures to protect ISAF
personnel,” Little said. “The United States remains dedicated to working
with the Afghan people against the common threat of violent extremism
and to build an Afghanistan that can secure and govern itself.”
AFP |