AFGHANISTAN: US Afghan bombing ‘kills dozens

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Kabul

Dozens of Afghan civilians have been killed during aerial bombing by US forces in the western province of Herat, tribal elders say.

They said an important tribal elder was among the dead in Shindand district.

A Nato spokesman said a number of insurgents had been killed and there were no reports of civilian casualties.

Earlier, US forces admitted killing eight civilians in a neighbouring province – the latest in a series of bombing incidents involving civilians.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan observer says foreign forces should change strategy or risk losing war

By BBC Monitoring

[Presenter] For the first time Afghan President Hamed Karzai has lodged a strong protest against the foreign forces for civilian casualties and called the killing of civilians a big disaster for the government of Afghanistan. According to a report by Press TV, President Karzai denounced the killing of civilians in NATO air raids and called on NATO to exercise caution during the military operations, mainly the air operations in Afghanistan. The president also criticized the foreign troops for their negligence in launching and coordinating their operations. Karzai said that he made all possible efforts to end or at least minimize any damage to civilians during the operations by the foreign troops. But unfortunately, the efforts did not yield results because NATO and the US troops did not take such issues seriously.

AFGHANISTAN: Eight Afghan civilians killed in US-led air strikes

By Agence France Presse

The US-led coalition in Afghanistan admitted Wednesday to killing eight civilians during an air strike against militants, as an Afghan official said nine women and a boy had died.

A convoy had come under heavy attack from several houses during a routine patrol on Tuesday in the volatile Bakwa district of the southwestern province of Farah, the coalition said in a statement.