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NATO chief meets Karzai, apologizes for civilian
deaths
Kabul—NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
on a surprise visit to Kabul, capital of Afghanistan held a meeting
with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and expressed regret on civilian
casualties caused during operations by international troops.
The NATO chief told reporters at a joint press conference after the
meeting that “I regret that innocent civilians are losing their
lives, but I have never met any NATO soldier, who intentionally
kills innocent Afghan civilians.”
Scheffer added that civilian casualties were “inevitable” in the
fighting with militants but “we do this with utmost scrutiny and
utmost care.”
Meanwhile, Afghan leader Karzai once again asked for a timeline for
the end of war and killing in the post-Taliban country.
Karzai in a strong tone pointed out that Afghanistan was suffering
in a war with unclear “what it is for, and that what we are doing.”
“I don’t have net with which I could catch the aircraft, otherwise I
would have thrown it and caught the American aircraft stopping it
(bombing on our people),” the Afghan top official said.
“It is better that a timeline to be set up, not the timeline for
withdrawal, but a date when we could win the war, and by what means
this war could succeed,” Karzai said.
Afghan President reiterated the request just one day after meeting
with a fact finding team of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
when Karzai asked the international community to set a timeline for
clearing terrorism and ending the war and “ Afghanistan will do
everything it can to provide the opportunity for peace.”
Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed over
5,000 people with some 2,000 civilians so far this year despite some
70,000 international troops deployed in the war-torn country.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Nov. 18 urged the alliance countries to
contribute more troops to Afghanistan to prevent it from again
becoming a “safe haven” for terrorists on the occasion of addressing
on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Valencia of Spain.—NNI
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