Afghan leader demands air strikes end

Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 4:16 AM Posted by Beijing News


Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday demanded an end to US air strikes, which he said killed as many as 130 civilians and were infuriating the public.

As US and Afghan investigators prepared to release findings into the bloodshed, Karzai categorically rejected US military suggestions that Taliban insurgents rather than bombings may have been to blame.

"Airstrikes are not acceptable," Karzai told CNN on a visit to Washington.

"We believe strongly that airstrikes are not an effective way of fighting terrorism, that airstrikes rather cause civilian casualties," he said.

Karzai -- who faces elections in August -- talked tough at the end of a trip to the United States that had been meant to build support for the fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In talks with Karzai, US President Barack Obama pledged to be more careful to avoid killing civilians and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced regret for the deaths.

Karzai held three-way talks with Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who has been pushing unsuccessfully for an end to US drone attacks inside his country said to have killed top militants but also civilians.

There has been no admission from the US military that it killed civilians in the strikes -- which were called in by Afghan forces under attack by Taliban insurgents in the western province of Farah overnight Monday to Tuesday.

Afghan police have told AFP that more than 100 people were killed, about 25 to 30 of them insurgents and the remainder civilians, including elderly people and children.

The US military said that the figure was "grossly exaggerated" but did not offer a figure. US and Afghan teams were expected to announce findings from their investigation on Saturday.

"There were civilian casualties no doubt," said Colonel Greg Julian, US military spokesman in Kabul.

"But the conclusion from the investigation has not been reached, and it's inappropriate to indicate one way or the other how they were caused."

One of the issues being looked into was whether the Taliban had caused the civilian casualties by throwing grenades among villagers, he said.

Karzai dismissed the possibility and said the toll could be even higher than 100.

"I got definitive word from the government this morning that there were more than 100 casualties -- nearly 125 to 130 civilians lost. Deaths -- children, women and men -- and it was done by the bombings," Karzai said.

In a separate interview with US network NBC to be broadcast Sunday, Karzai said that villages "are not where the terrorists are."

"Civilian casualties are undermining support in the Afghan people, for the war on terrorism, and for relations with America. How can you expect a people who keep losing their children to remain friendly?" Karzai said.

Obama has made fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan a top priority of his young presidency. Military operations started in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States.





Kambayashi

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