Afghan President Hamid Karzai (file photo) (epa)
August 18, 2006 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he is "shocked and angered" by an air strike by U.S.-led forces that Afghan officials say killed at least 10 border policemen.
The incident occurred in Paktika Province, near the Pakistan border, on August 17.
In a statement, Karzai says he has repeatedly asked coalition forces to take maximum caution while carrying out operations, and said such incidents must not be repeated.
Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press meanwhile quotes Paktika's governor, Mohammad Akram Khpelwak, as saying that 12 border policemen were killed and two others wounded in the midday incident.
The U.S. military said it was investigating the reports. But in a statement, it said it believed the air strike hit two vehicles occupied by insurgents involved in an earlier attack on U.S. and Afghan troops.
(Reuters, AFP, AP)
In a statement, Karzai says he has repeatedly asked coalition forces to take maximum caution while carrying out operations, and said such incidents must not be repeated.
Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press meanwhile quotes Paktika's governor, Mohammad Akram Khpelwak, as saying that 12 border policemen were killed and two others wounded in the midday incident.
The U.S. military said it was investigating the reports. But in a statement, it said it believed the air strike hit two vehicles occupied by insurgents involved in an earlier attack on U.S. and Afghan troops.
(Reuters, AFP, AP)
The Afghan Insurgency
The Afghan Insurgency
HOMEGROWN OR IMPORTED? As attacks against Afghan and international forces continue relentlessly, RFE/RL hosted a briefing to discuss the nature of the Afghan insurgency. The discussion featured Marvin Weinbaum, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and RFE/RL Afghanistan analyst Amin Tarzi.
LISTEN
Listen to the entire briefing (about 83 minutes):