KABUL (AP) - President Hamid Karzai called the top U.S. and NATO general in Afghanistan again to explain civilian casualties caused by international forces, while an insurgent attack Sunday on a security checkpoint killed five police, an official said.
Karzai asked Gen. David McKiernan to explain the reported deaths of six civilians in two incidents, Karzai’s office said late Saturday. It was the second time in three days Karzai brought up the topic with McKiernan. On Thursday, the U.S. general was summoned to the presidential palace to explain other deaths.
Karzai has long complained about civilian deaths caused by international forces. Last year, McKiernan implemented new rules of engagement intended to cut down on the deaths of innocent Afghans, but they still occur, especially in nighttime raids.
Karzai’s office said three civilians were killed by international forces in Helmand province on Friday. The NATO-led force said three people were killed when its forces fired on a vehicle from which a man who was “posing a threat” was exiting. Two people inside the vehicle were also killed, it said.
“The death of a single innocent Afghan is a tragedy,” said Capt. Mark Durkin, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. An investigation is under way, he said.
Karzai said three civilians, including a woman, also were killed in Logar province. The NATO-led force said in a statement that three militants were killed Saturday during an operation in Logar.
The issue of civilian casualties is extremely difficult in Afghanistan, where militants don’t wear uniforms and even innocent villagers will defend their homes with gunfire if unknown soldiers enter their village at night. Journalists can rarely travel to the sites of battles to verify claims by villagers of civilian deaths.
In western Farah province, meanwhile, militants attacked a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Farah city early Sunday, killing at least five police, said Baryalai Khan, spokesman for the provincial police chief.
An unknown number of police were missing after the attack and officials were investigating whether any of the police may have had links with the militants and helped facilitate the attack, he said.
Violence has risen across Afghanistan in the past three years as a Taliban-led insurgency has gained steam. President Barack Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan this summer to bolster the record 38,000 already in the country.
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Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.
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