prevent civilian deaths as a major offensive in the south by U.S.,
British and Afghan troops entered its second week.
The president’s remarks, in a speech to Afghan
lawmakers, came as the Western military officials announced that troops
involved in the fighting for the Taliban stronghold of Marja had shot
and killed an Afghan man a day earlier, mistakenly believing he was
menacing a patrol with a makeshift bomb.
NATO says 16 civilians have been accidentally killed
by Western troops in the Marja offensive, which began in the early
hours of
Thousands of Afghan civilians, frightened by the
fighting, have fled their homes in and around the town and are
sheltering elsewhere in Helmand province. But many residents say
insurgents have prevented them from leaving, warning there are buried
bombs everywhere.
Karzai, addressing parliament as it opened its
winter session, held up a picture of an 8-year-old girl he said was the
only surviving member of a family of 12 killed when NATO rockets hit a
home on the second day of the offensive.
“We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties,” the Afghan president said.
U.S. Gen.
ordered troops to exercise all possible care. Field commanders say they
are doing their best to follow strict rules of engagement.
Karzai has often angrily rebuked Western forces over
civilian deaths and injuries. In Saturday’s speech, however, he thanked
McChrystal for helping keep the civilian toll low.
A joint force led by U.S. Marines is still
struggling to gain full control of Marja, which for years had been a
Taliban stronghold. Scattered battles raged again Saturday, military
officials said, with coalition troops taking fire from Taliban snipers
and uncovering more buried bombs.
A statement from NATO’s International Security
Assistance Force described the latest clashes as “difficult,”
particularly to the northeast and west of Marja, and noted that
“insurgent activity is not limited to those areas.”
A Marine spokesman said the offensive was moving forward.
“It’s a slow, deliberate process,” Marine spokesman Lt.
In his speech, Karzai again urged low-level Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons and rejoin Afghan society.
“End this war. Return to your homes and help
rebuild,” said the Afghan leader, whose efforts to woo disaffected
fighters have recently won the backing of the international community.
Officials in the Karzai government have expressed
hopes that a recent string of setbacks to the Taliban leadership may
encourage low-level fighters to leave the insurgency. The Taliban
military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured this month
in
several other senior figures, including the Taliban “shadow governor”
of Kunduz province, were also recently arrested there.
—
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
