Kabul - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates expressed 'deep
regret' Wednesday for the recent civilian deaths caused in US air
raids and vowed to take 'new measures' to diminish the toll, the
Afghan presidential palace said.
Gates arrived in Kabul late Tuesday on a surprise visit to meet
with Afghan officials and US-led coalition commanders to discuss new
ways of battling the Taliban, which has stepped up its insurgency in
the country.
In a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Gates expressed his
'deep regret for the loss of civilian lives in Shindand district of
Herat province and said he was hopeful that with taking new measures,
the civilian casualties during the coalition operations would be
diminished,' Karzai's office said in a statement.
More than 90 civilians, mostly children, were killed August 22 in
a US military airstrike in the village of Azizabad in the western
province, according to Afghan government and UN investigative teams.
The US military initially said up to seven civilians and 30 to 35
militants were killed in the attack, but the United States later
announced it would send a US general to Afghanistan to reinvestigate
the strike after video emerged that showed the bodies of civilians,
including at least 10 children.
Civilian casualties during international military operations
against the Taliban have become a great concern for Karzai, who
believes the mounting civilian deaths would erode public support for
his government.
The United Nations said Tuesday that 1,445 civilians were killed
in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 39 per cent
from the same period of 2007.
The presidential palace also said Karzai reiterated his
government's stance in his meeting with Gates that civilian
casualties, unilateral searches of houses and unnecessary arrests of
Afghans by allied forces must be stopped.
Gates also met with his Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak,
and other senior Afghan officials and pledged to boost the training
and equipping of Afghan security forces, the statement said.
Both army chiefs insisted that more coordination between
coalition and Afghan forces would improve their fight against the
Taliban and its associates and would reduce civilians casualties, the
statement said.
USA
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