ISAF apologises for Afghan civilian deaths

Foreign forces in Afghanistan apologised for the deaths of nine Afghan civilians Foreign forces in Afghanistan apologised Monday for the deaths of nine Afghan civilians after President Hamid Karzai criticised an air strike which he and officials said killed 14, including children. The statement said that the strike in the southern province of Helmand was carried out Saturday after insurgents who had earlier killed a patrolling marine hid in a compound and carried on firing.
The compound hit by the air strike was home to civilians. Local officials said that five girls, seven boys and two women were among those killed by international forces.
"I want to offer my sincere apologies for the nine civilians who were killed during the incident in Now Zad District, Helmand province, that occurred on 28 May," said a statement from Major General John Toolan, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander for the southwest region of Afghanistan.
He stressed it was the coalition's "top priority" to avoid civilian casualties, adding that a full investigation was under way.
"While I know there is no price on human life, we will ensure that we make amends with the families in accordance with Afghan culture," Toolan added.
He did not explain the discrepancy between the figures for the number of dead provided by ISAF and those given by Afghan officials.
The apology came after Karzai's office issued what it said was a "last warning" to US and NATO-led troops over civilian casualties following Saturday's incident, which it described as a "great mistake".
In response, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that "we share and take very seriously" Karzai's concerns.
Civilian deaths in international military operations are a highly sensitive topic in Afghanistan, frequently sparking angry public demonstrations and vocal condemnations from Karzai.

But experts in Afghanistan warn that Karzai's "last warning" is likely to have limited impact.
"I believe he can't do anything," said analyst Waheed Mujda.
"The people in Afghanistan think there's no Afghan government, there's just a foreign troop government in Afghanistan because the president is paralysed... he's caught between the people calling for action and the foreign forces who he relies on in so many ways."
Foreign troops are due to hand over control of security in a handful of safer areas to Afghan troops from July, the formal start of a transition process due to conclude with the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops in 2014.
The Afghan army currently numbers 160,000 and police 126,000, under an intensive programme to increase the numbers and quality of Afghan forces.
Currently, Afghan forces do not take part in air strikes due to the severe limitations of the country's fledgling air force.
Separately, the governor of Nuristan on Sunday told AFP that 18 civilians and 20 police had been killed by "friendly fire" during US-led air strikes against insurgents in his troubled northeastern province.
Nuristan was the scene of heavy battles last week between the Taliban and Afghan security forces. The police and civilians were targeted Wednesday after they were mistaken for militants, Jamaluddin Badr said.
ISAF has said it is sending a fact-finding team to the region but that initial reporting shows no sign of civilian casualties there.
The United Nations says Afghan civilian deaths in the war increased 15 percent to a record high of 2,777 last year. More than three-quarters of the dead were killed in violence blamed on insurgents.