KABUL — To the shock of President Hamid Karzai’s aides, Gen. David Petraeus on Sunday suggested that Afghans caught up in a coalition attack in northeastern Afghanistan might have burned their own children to exaggerate claims of civilian casualties, according to two participants at the meeting.
Petraeus’ exact language in the closed-door session at the presidential palace was not known, nor the precise message he meant to convey. But his remarks about the deadly U.S. military operation in Kunar province were interpreted as deeply offensive by some in the room. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
They said he dismissed allegations by Karzai’s office and the provincial governor that civilians were killed, and said residents invented stories, or even injured their children, to blame U.S. forces for targeting civilians and to stop the operation.
“This was shocking,” a participant said of listening to Petraeus. “Would any father do this to his children? This is really absurd.”
Petraeus, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
U.S. and Afghan officials have started to investigate what happened during a three- to four-day operation in the mountains of Ghaziabad district, one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. U.S. military officials said there was no evidence innocent civilians died. The governor of Kunar, Fazlullah Wahidi, disagreed, citing reports from villagers that dozens of women and children perished. Karzai’s office placed the civilian death toll at 50.
The key period involves five hours from Thursday night into Friday morning, when Apache helicopters fired on suspected insurgents who had gathered to attack U.S. and Afghan troops, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the top U.S. military spokesman in Kabul. Surveillance aircraft spotted them, he said, followed by Apache helicopters. The insurgents fled down a hillside in several small groups away from any houses. U.S. and Afghan ground troops remained far to the south.
