Karzai slams Western tactics
Updated on 23 June 2007
Accusing NATO and US-led forces of using what he called "extreme" force, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has questioned why so many civilians are being killed in the fight against the Taliban.
His comments follow a week where more than 90 people died during military operations. Mr Karzai said NATO was failing to co-ordinate properly with Afghan forces.
Hamid Karzai is a man under pressure. The rising civilian death toll at the hands of NATO and Afghan army troops threatens to undermine his authority.
NATO operations against the Taliban have been stepped up in recent weeks. But two nights ago in southern Afghanistan a NATO airstrike on a compound where Taliban fighters were holed up left more civilians than insurgents dead - among them nine women, three babies and the mullah of the local mosque, according to Afghan officials.
So the Afghan President wants NATO to co-ordinate better and to toe the line.
The incident that triggered President Karzai's anger happened in the Girishk district of Helmand province on Thursday night. 20 Taliban were killed, but so were 25 civilians.
In all, aid groups estimate over 230 innocent civilians have been killed by NATO forces already this year. From the coalition forces, regret for Thursday's deaths.
Not to be forgotten, of course, the Taliban kills civilians too. Bystanders dying this week when a suicide bomber attacked police recruits in Kabul.
But the coalition can't avoid the issue of civilian deaths: it may feel it's still winning the hearts and minds of Afghans, but unrest is growing over the Karzai regime's failure to tackle corruption that's now endemic, and more carelessness could tip the balance the other way.
