Kabul: A senior Afghan official today said
that NATO forces killed five civilians, including one woman
and two children, during a night raid earlier this week in
northeastern Afghanistan.
A NATO statement said the alliance was aware of a
military operation in Chawkay district of Kunar province on
Monday and was checking into the report.
Sayed Fazelullah Wahidi, governor of Kunar province,
which includes the district, said the raid occurred Monday
night. He said coalition helicopters fired into a compound,
killing two militants and five civilians, including a woman
and two children.
Coalition troops and Afghan special forces have been
carrying out regular nighttime kill-and-capture raids against
suspected insurgents across Afghanistan.
But the operations and allegations of civilian deaths
have provoked anger over foreign meddling in Afghanistan and
whether detention operations will be run by the Afghans or
Americans.
President Hamid Karzai has demanded that foreign troops
stop entering homes, saying Afghan citizens cannot feel secure
if they think armed soldiers might burst into their houses in
the middle of the night.
In November, Karzai convened a traditional national
assembly known as a Loya Jirga that stopped short of demanding
a complete end to night raids. Instead, it asked that they be
led and controlled by Afghan security forces.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 22:05