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KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan president said Thursday that 18 people killed in a NATOairstrike in eastern Afghanistan a day earlier were all civilians. The deadly incident has further soured relations between NATO andthe Afghan government, already outraged by civilian casualties inprevious operations. Wednesday was the deadliest day for civilians in Afghanistan so farthis year, with at least 40 people killed, the U.N. said. In thelargest attack, a trio of suicide bombers killed 22 people in thebusy marketplace of Kandahar city. NATO has so far said it has no records of civilian deaths from thepre-dawn strike on a house in Logar province. The NATO and Afghantroops were going after a local Taliban leader when theinternational coalition says they came under fire and called in anairstrike Wednesday. "This is unacceptable. It cannot be tolerated," President HamidKarzai said in a statement condemning the strike in Logar. Hecriticized NATO for not being able to provide an explanation forthe vans piled with bodies of women and children that villagersdisplayed to reporters. Karzai's office said the president had spoken to a man who wasrelated to some of the victims. He promised a thoroughinvestigation and pledged that those responsible would facejustice. Karzai's condemnation of the strike and NATO's treatment of itserved as a reminder of the ongoing tension between Afghanistan andits Western allies. It came as U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panettavisited Kabul. NATO confirmed only militant deaths from Wednesday's strike butsent a team to investigate allegations that civilians were killedeither along with or instead of insurgents. "The reason this team has been dispatched down there is becausethere is such a discrepancy between what our operational reportingindicates and what Afghan officials on the ground are sayinghappened," said Maj. Martyn Crighton, a spokesman for the NATOforce in Afghanistan. Villagers displayed 18 bodies at the provincial capital onWednesday, including five women, seven children and six men. Afghanofficials said then that some or all of the dead men weremilitants. Since no government officials have visited the site ofthe attack, it was not clear if there might be additional dead. Karzai said in the statement that he was cutting short his trip toChina because of the attacks in Logar and Kandahar. He was expectedback in Kabul on Friday, said Syamak Herawi, a spokesman for thepresident. Nighttime raids on militants taking cover in villages have been arepeated source of strain between the Afghan government, which saysthe raids put civilians in the crossfire, and its internationalallies, who say such operations are key to capturing and killinginsurgent leaders. A deal signed in April was supposed to resolve the issue by puttingthe Afghan government in charge of such operations. But Karzai'sstatement put all the responsibility for Wednesday's strike onNATO. The conflicting reports about the raid in the Baraki Barak districtalso show the confusion and strife that continue to surround theseraids, despite the document signed in Kabul. Villagers said thatthe airstrike hit a house where a number of families had come infrom out of town for a wedding party. Afghan police said it was agathering of militant leaders in the area who had holed up in avillage house for the night. Panetta told reporters that he was using his trip to Afghanistan— his fourth to the war zone — to take stock ofprogress in the war and discuss plans for the troop drawdown. Butat a news conference with reporters he focused more on neighboringPakistan, saying American officials are "reaching the limits of ourpatience" with the Pakistani government and that the Pakistanisneed to do more to root out the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani terroristnetwork. Panetta's explicit and repeated criticism of Pakistan's inaction,which he also voiced during his visit to India, appeared to signala somewhat tougher stance and a suggestion that the U.S. isbecoming even more willing and quick to strike terrorist targetsinside Pakistan. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Lp Gas Cylinder , Lp Gas Regulator, and more. For more , please visit Compressed Gas Cylinders today!
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