Kabul, Afghanistan – Afghans can no longer accept or understand civilian deaths from international military operations, President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday after officials said 51 villagers were killed during a U.S.-led offensive against the Taliban in western Afghanistan.
Despite claims that women and children were among the dead, the U.S. military maintained it had no reports of civilian casualties.
But rising public anger was evident as students staged a fourth day of anti-American protests in an eastern city over civilian deaths.
Karzai met with NATO, U.S. and European Union officials, telling them that “civilian deaths and arbitrary decisions to search people’s houses have reached an unacceptable level, and Afghans cannot put up with it any longer,” according to a statement from his office.
During an earlier news conference, Karzai said: “The intention is very good in these operations to fight terrorism. Sometimes mistakes have been made as well, but five years on, it is very difficult for us to continue to accept civilian casualties.”
The U.S.-led coalition said the military operation in western Herat province was conducted between Friday and Sunday by U.S. and Afghan troops in the Zerkoh Valley and killed 136 suspected Taliban militants – the deadliest fighting in Afghanistan since January.
Mohammad Homayoun Azizi, chief of Herat’s provincial council, said two council members who visited the area with police and intelligence officers reported that 51 civilians were killed.
Azizi said the bodies were buried in three locations and included women and children.
