Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday condemned a US military raid in eastern Afghanistan that he said killed 16 civilians, while hundreds of local villagers took to streets to denounce the US military and central government. In a statement issued by his office, Karzai condemned the US military raid in Mehtar Lam district of eastern Laghman province on Friday which, he said, resulted in death of 16 civilians including two women and three children. 'Bombing Afghan villages, except for killing civilians, does not yield any other progress in the fight against terrorism,' the president said in the statement. Karzai asked for an immediate end to civilian killings and deemed the 'uncoordinated attacks' as 'factors that weaken the Afghan government and strengthen terrorists.'
Afghan provincial lawmakers and local villagers earlier had said that the ground and air operation killed 21 civilians including women and children and wounded several others. The provincial governor had said that the operation was not coordinated with Afghan authorities.
The US military denied that civilians were killed and said in a statement on Saturday that their operation resulted only in the deaths of 15 militants including a female fighter who was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade during the military assault. The US statement said that the militants attacked their forces when they approached the targeted compounds and following the operation the troops discovered several weapons and ammunition.
Hundreds of local villagers marched on the streets in Mehtar Lam despite heavy rains on Sunday and chanted slogans against the US military and Karzai's government. The protesters warned there would be moves to join the Taliban insurgents and fight against the foreign forces if such killings continue.
Sunday's statement said that the Afghan government has sent a draft agreement to Washington - also sent to NATO headquarters - demanding the international forces to comply with its rules of conduct in order to reduce the civilian casualties.
The move to distance himself from his Western allies is seen by many political analysts as a sign that Karzai, who is facing reelection later this year, is trying to have more control over international troops in the country in order to show to Afghan public that he is not a US puppet.