Edited by Christina J. Kostopoulou
His “last warning” has given to American and NATO forces the Afghan President Hamid Karzai after Afghan officials confirmed that a NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan killed 14 people.
Mr. Karzai condemned the deaths and said that uncoordinated operations are killing innocent Afghan civilians. The Afghan president has been urging coalition forces to minimize night raids and clear them with Afghan forces to reduce casualties.
In Washington, U.S. Senator John McCain, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that he disagrees with administration plans to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July. He said a drawdown should be dictated instead by conditions on the ground. The U.S.-led NATO alliance has about 150,000 troops in the country and nearly 100,000 of them are U.S. forces.
On Saturday May 28th, a suicide bomber disguised in a police uniform struck inside the governor’s complex in northern Takhar province while ranking Afghan officials were meeting with NATO troops.
The attacker killed the police commander of northern Afghanistan, General Dawood Dawood, and five others including police officials and two German soldiers. At least nine other people were wounded in the attack.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing in Taloqan city.
Elsewhere Saturday, coalition troops killed an armed woman during a raid on a compound in eastern Khost province.
Afghan authorities say the airstrike late Saturday hit two houses in Helmand province and killed 14 people – all women and children. They say six other civilians were injured.
A NATO spokesman said he is aware of the reports of civilian casualties. He said a joint assessment team has been sent to the site, and that the coalition will release its findings later.
Local officials said the airstrike followed an attack on a U.S. Marine base in the area.
