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KABUL (PAN) The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologized after an investigation concluded that coalition troops killed nine civilians -- including some children
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said he would personally apologize to Afghan President Hamid Karzai after Karzai returns from a trip to London this week.
"We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan, and, most importantly, the surviving family members of those killed by our actions," Petraeus said in a statement Wednesday.
Some children were among the dead, an ISAF statement said.
Preliminary findings of an investigation show that ISAF forces accidentally killed nine civilians in the Darah-Ye Pech district of Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province Tuesday, the statement said. The incident happened after insurgents fired rockets at a base used by U.S. and Afghan troops.
"These deaths should never have happened..." Petraeus said.
"Regrettably, there appears to have been an error in the hand-off between identifying the location of the insurgents and the attack helicopters that carried out the subsequent operations."
In a statement Wednesday, Karzai condemned the incident "in the strongest terms possible." He noted the incident occurred less than 10 days after another incident "that left many civilians dead in the same province."
He cautioned foreign troops against killing Afghan civilians in operations against insurgents, saying the casualties could create problems for the coalition.
"These killings of innocent people once again show that Afghan villages and streets are not safe havens for terrorists," Karzai was quoted as saying in a statement.
As many as 2,000 residents of Manogi district on Wednesday protested against the killing of children who they said were collecting firewood. They blocked the Nangarhar highway for four hours and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice
NATO Apologizes For killing of Nine Afghan Children | Pajhwok Afghan News
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said he would personally apologize to Afghan President Hamid Karzai after Karzai returns from a trip to London this week.
"We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan, and, most importantly, the surviving family members of those killed by our actions," Petraeus said in a statement Wednesday.
Some children were among the dead, an ISAF statement said.
Preliminary findings of an investigation show that ISAF forces accidentally killed nine civilians in the Darah-Ye Pech district of Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province Tuesday, the statement said. The incident happened after insurgents fired rockets at a base used by U.S. and Afghan troops.
"These deaths should never have happened..." Petraeus said.
"Regrettably, there appears to have been an error in the hand-off between identifying the location of the insurgents and the attack helicopters that carried out the subsequent operations."
In a statement Wednesday, Karzai condemned the incident "in the strongest terms possible." He noted the incident occurred less than 10 days after another incident "that left many civilians dead in the same province."
He cautioned foreign troops against killing Afghan civilians in operations against insurgents, saying the casualties could create problems for the coalition.
"These killings of innocent people once again show that Afghan villages and streets are not safe havens for terrorists," Karzai was quoted as saying in a statement.
As many as 2,000 residents of Manogi district on Wednesday protested against the killing of children who they said were collecting firewood. They blocked the Nangarhar highway for four hours and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice
NATO Apologizes For killing of Nine Afghan Children | Pajhwok Afghan News
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