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[Eberndorfer]

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai condemns civilian deaths!
Aug. 23, 2008

KABUL — The U.S.-led coalition says it will investigate allegations of civilian deaths during a battle in western Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior says 76 civilians were killed in strikes in the Shindand district of Herat province.

American officials say U.S. and Afghan soldiers investigated the site of Thursday's strikes and found that 30 militants, including a Taliban leader, had been killed.

However on Saturday, President Hamid Karzai condemned the U.S. operation and said that "at least 70 innocent civilians, most of them women and children" were killed.

The Interior Ministry's claim also contradicted the Afghan Ministry of Defence, which said 25 militants and five civilians were killed in the attack.

Karzai says the Afghan government will soon announce "necessary measures" to prevent civilian casualties in the future. Karzai has long demanded that U.S. and NATO officials take care to not harm civilians during its military operations, an issue that undermines the Afghan government and causes great anger in Afghan villages.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i65Q9PaFPuP0hyw8IegvOSDbHqtw