KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan president said a deadly raid on a village by American and Afghan commandos has put new strain on relations with the United States and promised Thursday to punish those responsible.
U.S. officials have said that at least 30 militants, including a Taliban commander, and no more than seven civilians were killed during the Aug. 22 raid. Afghan officials, backed by the United Nations mission, insist that more than 90 civilians died, including dozens of children.
President Hamid Karzai’s comment come a day after he spoke to President Bush about the raid and how to prevent civilian casualties, his office said.
Karzai said that following the raid, “our relation with the foreigners got worst,” according to the statement from his office.
“In the last five years I have tried day and night to prevent these incidents from happening,” Karzai told the villagers assembled inside a mosque in Shindand, several miles away from Azizabad.
Karzai promised them that those responsible for the raid would face justice and be punished, the statement said. He already has fired two Afghan officers involved in the raid.
The U.S. has long said that Taliban militants pressure Afghan villagers to falsely claim civilian casualties, information warfare that does serious damage to the reputations of the U.S., NATO and the Western-backed Afghan government.
In Azizabad and other small villages where civilians are reported killed in combat, the Afghan government and international militaries pay about $2,000 for each person killed, giving villagers incentive to file false claims. U.S. officials acknowledge that payments have been made for people who never existed.
