Meanwhile back in KABUL

UN Says Has Evidence Air
Strikes Killed 90 Afghans,
Including 60 Children

by Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL - The United Nations said on Tuesday
it had found convincing evidence that 90
Afghan civilians, most of them children,
were killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition
forces in western Afghanistan last week.

An Afghan woman who lost family members
weeps after air strikes on Friday in Azizabad
district of Shindand August 23, 2008. An UN
investigation suggested that 60 children were
killed in the airstrike.
(REUTERS/Mohammad Shoiab)

The issue of civilian casualties has driven a rift
between the Afghan government and its NATO
backers, with President Hamid Karzai saying
earlier this month that air strikes had achieved
nothing and had only succeeded in killing ordinary
Afghans."Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing
evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses,
and others, that some 90 civilians were killed,
including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," U.N.
Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

The U.S. military has launched an investigation into
the incident, after first saying it was unaware of any
civilian casualties in what it said was an air strike on
a known Taliban commander that killed 30 militants.
The Afghan government on Monday ordered the
review of operations by foreign forces amid mounting
discontent over civilian casualties nearly seven years
after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban, the presidential
spokesman said. The order foresees a set of laws to
be drafted in consultation with foreign forces and then
approved by the Afghan parliament, Humayun Hamidzada
told a regular press briefing.

"STATUS OF FORCE AGREEMENT"
It says the presence of the international community
in Afghanistan must be reviewed through mutual
agreement and reiterates previous government
demands on banning air strikes on civilian targets,
un-coordinated house searches and the illegal
detention of Afghan civilians.

"The authorities and responsibilities of the
international forces in Afghanistan must be
regulated through a 'status of force agreement'
consistent with both international and Afghan
laws," the order says.

Hamidzada did not have a figure for civilian
killed in foreign military operations. But he said:
"The patience of the Afghan people has ran out.
We no longer can afford to see the killing of
our children."

UNAMA said it sent its human rights team to the
Shindand area to investigate the latest incident,
meeting local officials, elders and villagers. Afghan
and foreign soldiers entered the village of
Nawabad in Shindand around midnight on August
21. Operations lasted several hours and air
strikes were called in, the villagers told UNAMA.
"The destruction from aerial bombardment
was clearly evident with some 7-8 houses having
been totally destroyed and serious damage to
many others," the U.N. statement said.
"Local residents were able to confirm the number
of casualties, including names, age and gender
of the victims.

"This is matter of grave concern to the United
Nations, I have repeatedly made clear that
the safety and welfare of civilians must be
considered above all else during the planning
and conduct of all military operations," Eide said.

Writing by Jon Hemming;
Editing by Alex Richardson

© 2008 Reuters