Petraeus: Did civilians kill their own?
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- To the shock of President Hamid Karzai's aides, Gen. David Petraeus on Sunday suggested that Afghans caught up in a coalition attack in northeastern Afghanistan might have burned their own children to exaggerate claims of civilian casualties, according to two participants at the meeting.
Gen. Petraeus's exact language in the closed-door session at the presidential palace is not known, nor the precise message he meant to convey. But his remarks about the deadly U.S. military operation in Konar province were interpreted as deeply offensive by some in the room. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
They said he dismissed allegations by Mr. Karzai's office and the provincial governor that civilians were killed, and said residents invented stories, or even injured their children, to blame U.S. forces for targeting civilians and to stop the operation.
"I was dizzy. My head was spinning," one participant said of listening to Gen. Petraeus. "This was shocking. Would any father do this to his children? This is really absurd."
Gen. Petraeus, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
Also Monday, in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, a suicide bomber detonated at an Afghan government office while people were waiting to pick up government identification cards. The explosion in the Imam Sahib district killed at least 29 people and wounded more than 30 others, said Deputy Provincial Police Chief Abdul Rahman Haqtash. The Taliban took responsibility for the attack.
U.S. and Afghan officials have started to investigate what happened during a three- to four-day operation in the mountains of Ghaziabad district, one of the most dangerous and inhospitable parts of Afghanistan. U.S. military officials said there is no evidence innocent civilians died. The governor of Konar, Fazlullah Wahidi, disagreed, citing reports from villagers that dozens of women and children perished. Mr. Karzai's office placed the civilian death toll at 50.
The key period involves five hours from Thursday night into Friday morning, when Apache helicopters fired on suspected insurgents who had gathered to attack U.S. and Afghan troops, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the top U.S. military spokesman in Kabul.
Surveillance aircraft spotted them, he said, followed by Apache helicopters. The insurgents fled down a hillside in several small groups away from any houses. U.S. and Afghan ground troops remained far to the south.
First Published February 22, 2011 12:00 am
