ASADABAD (PAN) has acknowledged the killing of four civilians during an operation in the Asmar district of eastern Kunar province four days ago, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Another six people from the same family were wounded in the offensive. ISAF and interior ministry officials found the victims were local residents, Governor Syed Fazlullah Wahidi told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the delegation had met him and expressed sorrows over the incident. The team told him the Taliban used residents as human shields and their houses as trenches against foreign troops, the governor said.
Wahidi said he had asked ISAF and Afghan forces to exercise maximum possible caution to avoid civilian causalities during their operations against insurgents.
Resident Haji Abdul Wali Khan said they were fed up with daily clashes between foreign troops and Taliban fighters. Residents were often harmed by both sides, he alleged.
“US forces have killed locals many times and later they tender apologies. A simple apology does not heal the wounds of victims’ families,” he remarked, warning of a public uprising if such killings continued.
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