The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan admitted Thursday that several Afghan civilians were killed in a military operation conducted in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, and promised to pay compensation to the families of the victims.
"Coalition forces deeply regret that our joint operation appears to have resulted in civilian loss of life and we express our sincerest condolences to the families," Rear Admiral Greg Smith, ISAF director of communication, said in a statement.
"We will partner with the government of Afghanistan to conduct a thorough investigation of this incident, and to provide solatia [compensation] to the families of the civilians killed during the engagement."
The NATO statement came hours after news reports quoting local officials suggested that at least 30 civilians were killed in a couple NATO air strikes on two villages in the Nangarhar province. While the first air strike reportedly targeted the Nakrkhail village, the second strike hit a funeral procession in nearby Hashimkhail village.
The ISAF had confirmed earlier that it had mounted an operation in multiple locations in Nangarhar province on Wednesday, and was "aware of civilian casualty allegations as a result of these operations and is conducting an investigation." But it made no mention of an air attack.
A day earlier, a statement released by Presidential Place said an official investigation has confirmed that 39 civilians were killed by NATO-led troops late last month in Sangin district in southern Afghan province of Helmand. The death toll confirmed by the investigation was much lower than the earlier reported fifty, but is higher than what was admitted by the NATO forces.
The latest case of civilian casualities in a NATO operation just a day after Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, issued new guidelines to the international coalition forces emphasizing on the priority to minimize civilian casualties in their mission to wipe out Taliban insurgents.
Gen. David Petraeus issued a strict order on Wednesday in line with a change in tactics introduced by his predecessor Gen. Stanley McChrystall last year, as civilian deaths during ISAF operations targeting militants created "more enemies" than friends.
"We must continue - indeed redouble - our efforts to reduce the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum. Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause," Gen. Petraeus said in the updated directive.
Gen. Petraeus took over as commander of 140,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on July 4 from Gen. McChrystall, who was removed by the Obama government after he and his aides mocked and criticized senior U.S. officials in a magazine article.
The issue of civilian deaths in coalition operations has become very sensitive in Afghanistan where the West-backed government under President Hamid Karzai is desperately trying to win back the confidence of the Afghan population that has suffered heavily in eight years of fighting since the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001.
Currently, the Afghan security forces, along with a coalition of foreign troops under the command of NATO and the United States, are hard-pressed to contain a resurgent Taliban.
There are over 120,000 foreign troops from more than 42 countries in Afghanistan. The ISAF troop level is expected to top 150,000 by August, once the deployment of the 35,000 additional American troops cleared by U.S. President Barack Obama is completed.
Obama has indicated that American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would begin as early as July 2011 after handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces. Recently, British Prime Minister David Cameron also said that the UK could do the same, but insisted that the British troop withdrawal would "be based on the conditions on the ground."
The U.S. and its allies are currently making efforts to get Afghan security forces ready and capable of handling Afghanistan's security before the international coalition troops eventually withdraw from the country. They believe a strong Afghan military is essential to fill the void when international coalition troops eventually leave Afghanistan.
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