US and NATO forces in Afghanistan must focus on protecting ordinary Afghans and reducing civilian casualties, their incoming commander said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
General Stanley McChrystal added that finding Osama bin Laden and other "high value" targets would "just be a supporting" effort to the aim of protecting ordinary Afghans.
"When we are in position, one of the things we'll do is review all of our rules of engagement and all the instructions to our units, with the emphasis that we are fighting for the population," he told BBC radio.
"That involves protecting them both from the enemy and from unintended consequences of our operation, because we know that although an operation may be conducted for the right reason, if it has negative effects it can have a negative outcome for everyone," he added.
Relations between Kabul and Washington have been strained by a number of incidents in which civilians were injured or killed in attacks on Taliban insurgents in the war-scarred country.
Last month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai charged that up to 130 died in US air strikes, while a joint investigation said "a number of civilians" were killed in clashes with Taliban fighters.
McChrystal, who has led special operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, was confirmed by the US Senate this week as the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, and was on his way to Kabul via Brussels on Friday.
US President Barack Obama nominated him in May to replace General David McKiernan, forced to step down to make way for a fresh approach in the struggling campaign by the International Security Assistance Force ISAF.
McChrystal, who was involved in the hunt for deposed president Saddam Hussein after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, declined to forecast whether Bin Laden could be found -- the Al-Qaeda chief was long thought to be holed up near the Afghan-Pakistani border.
While there was "a requirement to go after significant leaders," this was only part of the effort, said McChrystal.
"If we win this effort it will be because we protected the population and going after the high-value enemy targets will just be a supporting effort to do that," he told the BBC.
McChrystal met NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Friday, hours before flying on to Kabul.
Speaking briefly to reporters there, he said: "I am honoured to be selected to command the brave men and women that make up the ISAF, and I assure you that I take the responsibility very, very seriously."
Dugong 'Wuru' eats from a special lettuce birthday cake during the Sydney Aquarium's 21st birthday celebration. AFP/Greg Wood
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