BATI KOT (Reuters) -- Foreign and Afghan troops killed two militants in a raid against Al-Qaeda bomb-makers, the U.S. military has said, but angry protesters said the dead were civilians.
Civilian casualties are the greatest source of tension between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Western governments and have undermined public support for the presence of more than 70,000 foreign troops fighting a growing Taliban-led insurgency.
The overnight raid was aimed at disabling an Al-Qaeda cell of bomb-makers and planners in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar Province, 140 kilometers east of the capital, Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The statement said that "two armed militants engaged the force and were killed, a total of four suspected militants were detained."
But district governor Khaibar Momand condemned the killings, saying the victims were civilians and that the operation had not been coordinated with Afghan troops.
About 100 residents gathered to protest against the killings, saying they would not bury the bodies until they received an explanation. Four houses were also destroyed in the raid, residents told Reuters.
"It is better to join the Taliban than be neutral and be victimized," one resident named Rahmatullah said. "The government is useless and we won't ask anything from it. We can take our own revenge ourselves."
Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since the Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001, with attacks spreading from the south and east to the outskirts of Kabul.
More than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, 40 percent more than in 2007, the United Nations said. Around one-quarter were killed by international forces, it said.
The commander of all foreign forces in Afghanistan issued a directive in September saying his soldiers should not enter an Afghan house or mosque uninvited unless led by Afghan forces or troops were in "clear danger."
"The New York Times" has quoted "senior administration and Pentagon officials" as saying President Barack Obama and advisers "have decided to significantly expand Afghanistan’s security forces in the hope that a much larger professional army and national police force could fill a void left by the central government and do more to promote stability in the country," in the words of the paper.
with additional RFE/RL reporting
Civilian casualties are the greatest source of tension between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Western governments and have undermined public support for the presence of more than 70,000 foreign troops fighting a growing Taliban-led insurgency.
The overnight raid was aimed at disabling an Al-Qaeda cell of bomb-makers and planners in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar Province, 140 kilometers east of the capital, Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The statement said that "two armed militants engaged the force and were killed, a total of four suspected militants were detained."
But district governor Khaibar Momand condemned the killings, saying the victims were civilians and that the operation had not been coordinated with Afghan troops.
About 100 residents gathered to protest against the killings, saying they would not bury the bodies until they received an explanation. Four houses were also destroyed in the raid, residents told Reuters.
"It is better to join the Taliban than be neutral and be victimized," one resident named Rahmatullah said. "The government is useless and we won't ask anything from it. We can take our own revenge ourselves."
Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since the Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001, with attacks spreading from the south and east to the outskirts of Kabul.
More than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, 40 percent more than in 2007, the United Nations said. Around one-quarter were killed by international forces, it said.
The commander of all foreign forces in Afghanistan issued a directive in September saying his soldiers should not enter an Afghan house or mosque uninvited unless led by Afghan forces or troops were in "clear danger."
"The New York Times" has quoted "senior administration and Pentagon officials" as saying President Barack Obama and advisers "have decided to significantly expand Afghanistan’s security forces in the hope that a much larger professional army and national police force could fill a void left by the central government and do more to promote stability in the country," in the words of the paper.
with additional RFE/RL reporting