KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday made an emotional appeal for coalition troops to strive to prevent civilian deaths as a major offensive by U.S., British and Afghan troops entered its second week.
The president’s remarks to Afghan lawmakers came as Western military officials announced that troops fighting for the Taliban stronghold of Marja had shot and killed an Afghan man a day earlier, mistakenly believing he was menacing a patrol with a makeshift bomb.
NATO said 16 civilians have been accidentally killed by Western troops in the Marja offensive, which began early on Feb. 13. Human rights groups put noncombatant deaths at about two dozen.
Thousands of civilians, frightened by the fighting, have fled their homes in and around the town and are sheltering elsewhere in Helmand province. But many say insurgents have prevented them from leaving, warning there are buried bombs everywhere.
Karzai held up a picture of an 8-year-old girl he said was the only surviving member of a family of 12 killed when NATO rockets hit a home on the second day of the offensive.
“We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties,” the Afghan president said.
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of Western forces in Afghanistan, ordered troops to exercise all possible care. Field commanders say they are doing their best to follow strict rules of engagement.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
