STILL LOSING HEARTS AND MINDS

This time in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

Karzai Warns NATO: Afghan Life Not Cheap
Jun 23, 3:22 PM (ET)
By RAHIM FAIEZ


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - President Hamid Karzai accused NATO and U.S.-led troops Saturday of carelessly killing scores of Afghan civilians and warned that the fight against resurgent Taliban militants could fail unless foreign forces show more restraint.

"Afghan life is not cheap and it should not be treated as such," Karzai said in an angry rebuke that drew a contrite acknowledgment from NATO that it must "do better."

In the past 10 days, more than 90 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery fire targeting Taliban insurgents, Karzai said.

"Several times in the last year, the Afghan government tried to prevent civilian casualties, but our innocent people are becoming victims of careless operations of NATO and international forces," Karzai said at a news conference in his Kabul palace.

"You do not fight terrorists by firing a field gun 20 miles into a target," Karzai said. "That is definitely surely bound to cause civilian casualties.

The AP did great report on civilian casualties on Afghanistan:

June 18, 2007 - 5:49pm

By The Associated Press


(AP) - Afghan civilian deaths linked to international military action:

_ June 18, 2007: U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a compound suspected of housing al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven boys and several militants, a provincial governor said.

_ June 16-18, 2007: More than 100 people, including militants, civilians and police, died in three days of fierce clashes between NATO and the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials.

_ June 16, 2007: A U.S. soldier fired into civilians in Kabul, killing one and wounding two after a suicide bombing claimed by the Taliban killed four Afghan civilians. Kabul's deputy police chief and U.S. officials called the shooting an accident.

_ May 28, 2007: Taliban militants ambushed U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle and airstrikes that killed two dozen militants. Villagers said seven civilians were among the dead.

_ May 8, 2007: Airstrikes called in by U.S. Special Forces fighting 200 Taliban militants in Helmand province killed 21 civilians, government officials said, but villagers said nearly 40 civilians died. The coalition confirmed that there were civilian casualties, including at least one child killed.

_ April 27-29, 2007: Military operations by U.S. and Afghan forces in Herat province killed 136 suspected Taliban. Regional officials said the dead included 51 civilians, including women and children.

_ April 17, 2007: A U.S.-led coalition convoy in Kabul hit a boy who stepped into the road from behind a truck, a coalition statement said. The boy was evacuated for medical care, but died of his injuries.

_ March 10, 2007: A NATO attack in Chinar mistakenly killed three boys. The 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment launched the attack after intelligence indicated Taliban fighters had gathered.

_ March 5, 2007: An American convoy in the southern city of Kandahar opened fire on a vehicle, killing the driver, according to Kandahar police. NATO issued a statement saying the vehicle was trying to hit the convoy.

_ March 4, 2007: A U.S.-led coalition airstrike destroyed a mud-brick home, killing nine people from four generations of an Afghan family during a clash between Western troops and militants, Afghan officials and relatives said. The U.S. military said two men with automatic rifles were seen heading into a compound of five homes after a rocket attack on a U.S. base.

_ March 4, 2007: U.S. Marines fleeing a suicide bombing and militant ambush opened fire on a highway in eastern Afghanistan, witnesses said. Officials said 10 to 19 civilians were killed and 35 to 50 injured. A U.S. military commander later determined the Marines used excessive force and referred the case for possible criminal inquiry.

_ Feb. 27, 2007: NATO-led troops in Kandahar shot and killed a civilian who drove too close to their convoy, police said.

_ Oct. 26, 2006: Between 30 and 80 civilians were killed during NATO airstrikes in Panjwayi, a district in southern Afghanistan, according to the Afghan government and villagers. NATO reported 12 civilian deaths.

_ Oct. 18, 2006: Airstrikes by NATO helicopters hunting Taliban fighters destroyed three homes in Ashogho, in southern Afghanistan, as villagers slept, killing 13 people, police said.

_ July 10, 2006: The U.S. military said more than 40 Taliban were killed in an airstrike in Tirin Kot. Residents said at least four civilians died.

_ May 21, 2006: U.S. warplanes hunting Taliban fighters bombed a religious school and homes in the village of Azizi in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 16 civilians, according to local officials.

_ April 15, 2006: A U.S. airstrike aimed at militants in eastern Kunar province killed seven civilians, the military said.

_ April 30, 2005: Three civilians died in airstrikes on Taliban targets, the U.S. military said.

_ July 1, 2005: A U.S. airstrike on a house in eastern Afghanistan killed as many as 17 people, including women and children, provincial officials said. The U.S. military confirmed some civilians died.

_ Jan. 17, 2004: An American airstrike on a village in Uruzgan province killed 10 civilians, including women and children, according to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

_ Dec. 6, 2003: The U.S. military said an airstrike targeting a Taliban commander killed nine children in a mountain village in eastern Ghazni province. The attack occurred the day after a strike on a suspected militant's compound in eastern Paktia province set off secondary explosions that killed six children.

_ April 9, 2003: A U.S. warplane, called in to support allied Afghans under fire near the Pakistani border, mistakenly bombarded a home instead, killing 11 civilians.

_ July 1, 2002: A U.S. airstrike killed 48 people during a wedding in attacks on five villages in Uruzgan province, Afghan officials said. A U.S. investigation confirmed 34 dead.