Afghan government: Airstrike kills 21 civilians
A NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 21 civilians, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Monday.
NATO forces confirmed in a statement that its planes fired Sunday on a group of vehicles that it believed contained insurgents who were about to attack its forces, only to discover later that women and children were in the cars.
NATO did not provide a figure of how many died or say if all those in the vehicles were civilians. The Afghan government and NATO have launched an investigation.
Investigators on the ground have collected 21 bodies and two people are missing, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. Fourteen people were wounded, he said.
The strike hit three minibuses that were driving down a major road in the mountainous province. There were 42 people in the vehicles, all civilians, Bashary said.
NATO said that its forces transported injured people to nearby medical centers.
"We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives," NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in the statement. "I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will redouble our effort to regain that trust."
McChrystal apologized to President Hamid Karzai for the incident on Sunday, NATO said.
NATO has gone to great lengths in recent months to reduce civilian casualties as part of a new strategy to focus on protecting the Afghan people to win their loyalty over from the Taliban. Rules for airstrikes have been tightened, but mistakes continue to happen.
In the continuing offensive against a Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, south of Uruzgan, two NATO rockets killed 12 civilians and others have gotten caught in the crossfire. On Thursday, an airstrike in northern Kunduz province missed targeted insurgents and killed seven policemen.
Afghans airlift bodies as avalanche deaths hit 166
Helicopters ferried rescuers to and bodies away from the site of a massive avalanches that blocked an important mountain pass north of Kabul as the death toll soared Wednesday to 166, officials said. Hundreds more remained trapped in snowbound cars.
Afghan army troops dug through huge snowdrifts trying to rescue people from buried vehicles in the Salang Pass, a key road that connects the Afghan capital with the north.
The 3.5 miles (four kilometers) of road that were subsumed in the avalanches have been cleared of snow, but are littered with abandoned or snow-packed cars that still make much of it impassable, said the public works minister, Suharab Ali Safari.
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said rescuers have recovered 166 bodies from the Salang Pass, 70 miles (115 kilometers) north of Kabul, over the past two days.
Some of the victims were found frozen to death inside their vehicles, while in other cases, their bodies were strewn along the road, he said.
Bashary said late Wednesday that the rescue operation was "95 percent over," suggesting authorities did not expected further significant increases in the death toll.
President Hamid Karzai expressed his sorrow for the increasing death toll in a statement.
More than two dozen avalanches — which were triggered Monday — poured tons of snow and ice on the 12,700-feet-high (3,800-meter) pass. The 1.6 mile (2.6 kilometer)-long Salang Tunnel, a Soviet-built landmark dating from the 1960s through the Hindu Kush mountains, was cut off, with dozens of cars, buses and trucks jammed inside.
"The avalanche was very strong. It pushed the cars 200 yards (meters) away from the road," said Safari, the public works minister.
At a news conference in Kabul, Bashary said ambulances, bulldozers and other road-clearing equipment were now able to get to the site. About 2,600 people have been rescued so far, he said.
Some 400 police, along with 100 local volunteers, have been involved in the frantic effort to dig out survivors in the last 24 hours, he said.
Bashary said 135 bodies have been taken to Parwan province to the north while the remainder were taken to Baglan province in the south.
Rescuers, who were able to take advantage of clear and sunny weather, reached dozens more of the stranded Wednesday morning, including seven children whose mother had died.
Emergency rescue workers said among the dozens of vehicles stuck in the high drifts of snow were two buses. In one bus, at least 15 people were found dead.
On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said that Afghan forces had managed to evacuate more than 400 of the injured, with 180 taken by coalition helicopters to Bagram Airbase for medical treatment, said Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak.
Some 500 Afghan soldiers were also mobilized to join the police and others in rescue efforts. The international coalition contributed four Chinook helicopters, while the army sent two choppers, several ambulances and several bulldozers, the Afghan National Army said.
Afghan leader appeals to Taliban to lay down guns
Afghanistan's president appealed to Taliban fighters Sunday to lay down their weapons and accept Afghan laws as the government and its international allies push a program to entice militants away from the insurgency.
President Hamid Karzai spoke three days after he and Western backers agreed at a conference in London to create a more comprehensive program to bring Taliban insurgents over to the government's side in order to reduce violence that has raged in recent years.
Incentives have existed for years for the Taliban to stop fighting, but these have generally been ineffective, attracting only the lowest-level fighters with no guarantees they wouldn't return to the insurgency or that promised aid would come through.
And despite incentives, the insurgency has expanded steadily in the past six years. In 2004, NATO estimated that fewer than 400 Taliban were left in Afghanistan. By last year that figure had grown to nearly 25,000, with the latest estimates in early 2010 putting the number of insurgents at close to 30,000.
Karzai stressed he plans to reconcile with Taliban leaders as much as they are willing, but he made clear his offer of reconciliation did not extend to anyone in al-Qaida, saying there was no room in Afghanistan for terrorists.
"We are trying our best to reach as high as possible to bring peace and security," Karzai said in his first news conference since returning from London.
Karzai has said previously he is willing to talk to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and welcome back any militants who are willing to recognize the Afghan constitution. However, the Taliban has always set the withdrawal of international troops as a precondition for any negotiations.
Karzai called that unrealistic, saying the NATO coalition should be expected to stay until they achieve their goal of removing al-Qaida and other terrorist threats.
Afghanistan's international backers agreed in London to provide funding for a renewed effort to woo Taliban away from al-Qaida and the insurgency, given the commitment of the Afghan government to institute a more comprehensive and thorough program, including jobs and education. The details will be worked out in a meeting of elders, clerics and other representatives to be held "very soon," Karzai said.
Karzai is scheduled to travel this week to Saudi Arabia, one of the few countries that recognized the Taliban regime before it was ousted in 2001 and whose leaders have acted as intermediaries before. Karzai declined to say if he planned to discuss the new reconciliation plan with the Saudis.
"The role of Saudi Arabia is extremely important for Afghanistan," Karzai said. "This role we're seeking is not only for talks with the Taliban. It's a broader role that we're seeking, which is for peace-building in Afghanistan, for improved relations with our nations and for reconstruction and assistance."
Saudi Arabia pledged an additional $150 million in aid to Afghanistan at the London conference.
Anger as NATO airstrike kills 4 Afghan soldiers
A joint U.S.-Afghan force called in an airstrike on what turned out to be an Afghan army post after taking fire from there before dawn Saturday, killing four Afghan soldiers and prompting an angry demand for punishment from the country's defense ministry.
Both NATO and Afghan authorities described the clash around a snow-covered outpost in Wardak province southwest of Kabul as a case of mistaken identity. NATO called the attack "unfortunate" and promised a full investigation.
Nevertheless, the deadly strike threatens to strain relations between NATO and the Afghan government at a time when both sides are calling for closer partnership in the fight against the Taliban. The fighting came on the heels of several cases of bloodshed between Afghans and Americans in recent weeks.
NATO and Afghan officials said an Afghan interpreter angry over "job issues" shot and killed two U.S. soldiers Friday before he was gunned down by an American service member in the same district as the airstrike. NATO officials said the two attacks appeared unrelated.
Saturday's fighting erupted about 3 a.m. when a group of U.S. Special Forces and Afghan commandos approached a remote Afghan army outpost that was set up about 18 months ago to guard the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar.
NATO said the Afghan soldiers believed the unit was the Taliban and started shooting.
The joint force returned fire and called in the airstrike, which killed the four Afghan soldiers, NATO and the Afghan Defense Ministry said. Seven Afghan soldiers at the checkpoint were wounded, provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said.
"Besides expressing heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs, the Afghan Defense Ministry is condemning this incident," an Afghan statement said. "After the investigation is completed, the Defense Ministry wants to bring those responsible to justice."
Associated Press Television News video of the aftermath showed snow around the fortified compound blackened by the airstrike. American armored vehicles stood guard on the highway, about a half mile (a kilometer) from the hilltop outpost, while a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter roamed the skies overhead.
"I am from this area, and I witnessed the entire incident myself," said local resident Khan Mohammed. "Planes arrived and bombed the Afghan National Army checkpoint. They hit some of the houses around the area with mortars."
NATO said the joint force called in the airstrike only after failing to halt the fighting with return fire. The alliance said a joint Afghan-NATO investigation would "determine the facts and circumstances of this unfortunate incident."
"We work extremely hard to coordinate and synchronize our operations," NATO spokesman Brig Gen. Eric Tremblay said.
It was believed to be the first fatal friendly fire incident since November, when eight Afghans — four soldiers, three policemen and an interpreter — were killed in northwestern Afghanistan during close combat as troops searched for a missing U.S. paratrooper who was later found dead.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said at the time that the deaths had been caused by "an air attack by NATO forces" during the fighting.
Last year, the top U.S. and NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, curbed the use of airpower to assuage rising public anger over civilian casualties. Commanders still have the option of calling in airstrikes if they come under fire and civilians are not at risk.
Saturday's clash and the string of recent deadly encounters between Americans and Afghans are likely to stoke public anger against foreign forces — even though the United Nations reported this month that most civilian casualties were caused by the Taliban.
NATO said its troops opened fire Friday on a taxi as it sped toward a patrol in Ghazni province, killing two civilians and wounding another. U.S. soldiers shot and killed an Afghan imam Thursday when his car approached a convoy on the eastern outskirts of Kabul.
Last week, protesters in Ghazni blocked a major highway for three days, claiming that a NATO and Afghan force killed four civilians in during raid there targeting a Taliban official. NATO insisted the four dead were insurgents.
President Hamid Karzai has urged international forces to do more to protect civilians as part of a plan to build public support and lure Afghans away from the Taliban. Karzai announced a plan in London this week to offer jobs and other incentives to Taliban fighters willing to quit the insurgency and to reach out to the Taliban leadership.
On Saturday, the Taliban denied reports that their representatives met with a senior U.N. official to discuss prospects for peace. A statement sent to news organizations said reports of a meeting between the U.N.'s Afghanistan chief, Kai Eide, and representatives of the militants were "futile and baseless rumors."
Eide has not publicly acknowledged such a meeting but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.N. official wanted to "get his own conclusion about the mindset of some of the Taliban members."
The Taliban statement said the report was part of a U.S.-orchestrated "propaganda campaign" and promised to continue the war.
Afghan Parliament Rejets Karzai Cabinet Picks for Second Time
The Afghan Parliament Saturday rejected most of President Hamid Karzai's second slate of cabinet nominees, in yet another blow against the president's authority.
The lawmakers spent last week questioning the nominees -14 men and three women- on their competency after being ordered by Mr. Karzai to cancel the winter recess until the new government is approved.
But only seven of these candidates – including new Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul and the ministers of justice, labor and counter-narcotics – managed to secure the Parliament's endorsement on Saturday.
This is the second time that the Afghan Parliament delivered a blow to Mr. Karzai this month. In early January, lawmakers voted against most of Mr. Karzai's candidates for ministers, forcing him to select new nominees.
The ministerial positions that still remain unfilled include transport, communications, commerce and health.
"It was obvious from the beginning that most of the nominees would be rejected because they were selected by the president based on political patronage, rather than their efficiency," said Fawzia Kofi, a lawmaker from Badakhshan province.
Now Mr. Karzai has to prepare a third list of nominees, submitting it once again for parliamentary approval. Mr. Karzai, who was declared winner of the fraud-marred presidential elections in August, is under growing pressure at home and abroad to prove his commitment to a corruption-free and accountable government in return for continuing international support. He aims to have the government in place in time for the international conference on Afghanistan that will be held in London on January 28.
